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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26881474">Shades of Sun and Shadow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarlGreyAguilar/pseuds/EarlGreyAguilar'>EarlGreyAguilar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Critical Six [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Critical Role (Web Series), Dungeons &amp; Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Six - Marlow/Moss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Beheaded Cousins, Complete, D&amp;D AU, F/F, Fluff, Platonic Relationships, are for D&amp;D typical violence and themes touched on in SIX and CR but nothing very graphic, barbarian!cleves, bard!Howard, paladin!Aragon, rogue!Boleyn, the mature rating and rape and sexual assault warnings, warlock!Seymour, wizard!Parr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:36:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>45,339</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26881474</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarlGreyAguilar/pseuds/EarlGreyAguilar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Six Queens, whose lives seem to be entwined in more ways than they every could have guessed, wander the land of Exandria, running from demons, learning to trust themselves, and each other.</p><p>Or, the D&amp;D/Critical Role!SIX the Musical AU.</p><p>(There are mentions of rape/non-con/underage that aren't described in detail, but heavily alluded to in character backstories, but not in present-day and not graphically described. "Graphic Violence" is no more than your average D&amp;D game or video games such as Dishonored or Assassin's Creed.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr, Anne of Cleves/Katherine Howard, Catherine of Aragon/Jane Seymour</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Critical Six [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026967</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>79</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A raven flies out across The Frigid Depths, its wings beating a steady rhythm, further out to sea than a raven should truly be able to fly.</p><p>But, as is the case in so many tales of legend that span across the land of Exandria, “possible” is but a shackle; it is a word used to keep the average person from reaching what those who have reached the <em>improbable</em>…</p><p>Deem<em> impossible</em>.</p><p>The raven soars above the crystal blue waves, flying within eyesight of a modest ship tearing through the water. It touches down lightly onto the side of the ship where a young woman leans against the edge, eyes closed, her brown hair pulled back out of its usual twin buns atop her head into a simple ponytail, stray wisps whipping against her face in the wind, spray from the ocean misting her upper body, leaving her hair and clothes slightly damp. She doesn’t seem to mind as she cracks one eye open, smiling at the bird. </p><p>“I already know this is dangerous. I didn’t need you to show up to remind me,” she says, holding out her hand with one finger extended, inviting the black bird to jump on. It does so, nipping playfully at her skin as she laughs. “I know I’d be safer in Tal’Dorei,” she muses, “but I have promises to keep. And you’ll warn me if anything <em>too</em> dangerous is coming won’t you, old friend?” she asks, stroking the feathers softly. The raven gives a slight caw, taps her twice on the nose, then takes off, in the direction of land.</p><p>“Miss Nan!” a voice calls from behind the woman. She turns to face the sailor who had spoken. </p><p>“Yes?” she says, as though she had not just been talking to a strange black bird in the middle of the ocean.</p><p>“The captain asked me to tell you to get below deck. There’s a storm brewin’," he glances at the clear blue sky above. “She hasn’t been wrong yet, despite appearances.” </p><p>The woman inclines her head. “Of course, thank you. I’ll be right down,” she replies. The sailor nods and shuffles away, still glancing nervously at the sky. </p><p>Anne Boleyn looks back one last time at the retreating form of the raven who had been a constant in her life for so many years. <em>A storm,</em> she thinks grimly. <em>That sounds about right.</em></p><p>
  <em>Watch out, Wildemount. Here I come.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. New Beginnings, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Anne, put me down!” Kat laughed, wobbling from where she was perched unsteadily on her cousin’s shoulders.</p><p>“You said you wanted to climb the tree!” Anne said with a grin, grunting as she tried to help Kat pull a boot up onto her shoulder, only to receive a kick to the face with the sole of said boot. “OW! Watch it!”</p><p>“Yes, because we’re LOST, but it was a joke!”</p><p>“I thought it was a very good idea.”</p><p>“That inspires less confidence than you think it does.”</p><p>“Yeah, well- Wait.” Anne’s voice went abruptly serious, and with a deftness that continuously surprised Kat, she deposited her cousin onto the grass as she tilted her head to listen. She could hear voices approaching from behind the bushes.<br/><br/>“Howie, get behind me.” In one swift movement, she pushed Kat behind her, pulling her sword from it’s place at her side and stood at the ready. Kat, understanding immediately, made sure her face was hidden from the view of the bushes, as two figures burst into the clearing of the forest.</p><p>“Catherine, I think it’s this way.” </p><p>“Lead on, <em>mija</em>-” the woman speaking halted in her tracks, pulling a smaller figure behind her, drawing her long sword in a flash as she came face to face with the tip of Anne’s rapier. </p><p>“Touch her and I’ll kill you,” Anne said in a low voice, with not a trace of its usual playful teasing, one arm twisted behind her to keep Kat within reach.</p><p>The other woman, clad from head to toe in polished silver armor, a band of spikes along her head on a black band holding back curly brown hair that turned gold at the bottom, smirked, holding her sword higher. “Ha! I’d like to see you try.” Then her eyes narrowed as she studied the woman in front of her. Her jaw dropped. “Wait. Anne Boleyn?” </p><p>Anne stiffened, imperceptible to anyone but Kat, whose hand lay gently on her back, ready to help her if needed. “You’ve got the wrong girl.” Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the figure before her, taking in the familiar dark skin and eyes, her tall, broad figure and commanding presence. </p><p>“Queen Catherine?” she whispered in shock, eyes widening, an uncharacteristic betrayal of her true emotions peeking out from behind her usual carefree facade. Behind Catherine, a figure paused in her quiet arcane mumblings to try to gauge the paladin’s reaction.</p><p>Catherine quirked a brow at the formal address, but continued. “Well, if it isn’t Miss Anne Boleyn. How about you put down that sword before you hurt yourself?” She tapped the much smaller rapier lightly with her long sword, as if to show Anne how outmatched she was.</p><p>Anne’s eyes went from shocked to cold in a flash, and her red lips twisted into a strange smirk. “Of course, <em>Your Majesty</em>,” she said, spitting the title out the way she might a curse, raising her sword to meet Catherine’s. “But not until your little spellcaster friend comes out from behind your over-sized armor.” </p><p>Cathy Parr gave a start, and her glowing blue eyes faded to a dark brown as her concentration was broken. She still held her hand at the ready, but murmured to her godmother, “Should I…?”</p><p>Catherine didn’t truly believe Anne would hurt her. Or anyone for that matter. Not physically, not the Anne that she knew. Though she was reluctant to have Cathy anywhere but safe behind her, she knew now was a time for trust, not heroics. “Come on out, Cathy,” she said quietly to her goddaughter, before addressing Anne again “But I’m not sheathing my sword until your friend back there steps-”</p><p>Before anyone could even blink, Kat was stepping out from behind Anne, hands up in the air, a cheery grin on her face. “Hello!” she said, waving. “I’m here! Unarmed, no magic, just here!”<br/><br/>Parr peeked out from behind Catherine’s armor to see a girl, perhaps a few years younger than herself, in her early twenties. She wore a pink cape that just reached her elbows, dark brown leather armor with similar pink highlights, and brown boots. A pink skirt flared out over dark brown pants. Her long brown hair was tied up into a high pony tail, a similar faded pink color at the tip of it. She had a green cloth wrapped around her right leg. </p><p>Green cloth that matched the skirt and bracers of the woman standing, still at the ready, next to her. This woman was much paler than the first, a dusting of freckles across her face, with lighter brown hair pulled into two buns above her hair, leaving the rest to cascade around hers shoulders. She wore a long brown cloak that billowed slightly in the quiet wind, with a simple brown leather armor piece covering her upper torso. Her brown boots came up to her knees, and above her left leg was a pink cloth, tied in a similar fashion to the girl next to her. Both women wore black chokers around their necks.</p><p>But the most striking thing, Parr noticed, were the woman’s eyes. They were a beautiful shade of green that Parr had never seen before. Even now, as they bored straight into the eyes of her godmother, almost daring her to attack, there was a sharp beauty to them, like the eyes of a snake ready to strike. Parr was so fascinated, that she was startled by Catherine giving a slight cough. “Cathy?” Catherine muttered. </p><p>Parr immediately walked out from behind Catherine as if she hadn’t just been completely entranced by the green-clad woman’s eyes a moment earlier. “Hello,” she said quietly, raising her hands in a similar fashion to the girl in pink. While she kept her face devoid of expression the way she had for so many years, on the inside she laughed as the the woman with the green eyes glanced at her, then back to Catherine, only to shoot her gaze immediately back to Parr, eyes widening slightly.</p><p>Anne felt herself freeze for a moment when the woman hiding behind the former queen of the Dwendalian Empire stepped into view. She was short, maybe just over 5 feet tall, with curly brown hair parted to the side, a crown of spikes similar to Catherine’s holding the wild curls in place. She wore varying shades of blue in the form of pants and a sleeveless shirt that showed off her toned muscles and dark brown skin up to the elbow, with bracers that completely covered her forearms. Her face was serious, nearly devoid of expression, though Anne thought she spied a hint of amusement in her light brown eyes as they flickered over to her, then back to carefully watching Kat. </p><p>Right. There were unknown variables in front of her. Anne trained her eyes back on Catherine, who was watching her intensely. Neither lowered their sword.</p><p>“Um, guys?” Kat squeaked. “We’re both out from behind you.”</p><p>Parr jumped in. “Yes, I believe we’ve both done as you asked. Perhaps we could put the swords away?” </p><p>Catherine and Anne glared at each other for a few moments longer, before simultaneously stowing their weapons. They stood in silence, taking stock of each other, before Aragon broke the silence. “I see you haven’t grown any taller since I last saw you, Boleyn.” </p><p>Anne glared at the former queen, remembering the old argument, then smirked, examining her nails. “Sword as big as ever, Aragon.” Her eyes flicked up to meet the paladin’s. “Compensating for something?” </p><p>“WHY YOU LITTLE-” Aragon roared, and the two began an intense shouting match. </p><p>Parr, realizing that there wasn’t any true danger of the situation escalating to actual violence, glanced at the other girl. It seemed she had reached the same conclusion as she looked over at Parr in exasperation. They both put down their hands and approached each other. </p><p>“Hi, I’m Parr…” she trailed off as she held her hand out, and the girl glanced nervously at it. “I’m not going to cast anything,” she promised, keeping her hand out. The girl still looked uncomfortable, grabbing her right arm with her left, not looking Parr in the eye. “Are you alright?” Parr asked. </p><p>The girl finally looked up at her and flashed a quick smile. “Yeah! No, I’m fine! Sorry, I just…sorry, it’s kind of dumb. I’m Kat.” </p><p>Parr withdrew her hand realizing it was the source of the girl- Kat’s- discomfort. “No, it’s alright,” she reassured her quickly with a small smile of her own. “Um. So how do you know,” she glanced at where her godmother was making a rather graphic motion that suggested she wanted to tear Boleyn’s head from her shoulders, as Anne looked on, vaguely amused, only infuriating Aragon more. “…uh, how do you know Boleyn?”</p><p>Kat looked grateful for the change in subject. “Oh Anne? She’s my cousin.” </p><p>Parr blinked in surprise. “Your cousin?” </p><p>Kat shrugged. “Yeah, she gets that way around-” they both winced as Anne made a particularly cruel jab at Aragon, “well, around most people to be honest. But she’s really great once you get to know her!” </p><p>They both winced again as the yelling intensified and Parr raised an eyebrow at Kat. “…sure.” </p><p>Parr stiffened and Kat watched in amazement as her eyes clouded over for a moment. In the distance she heard the caw of a falcon, and Parr’s eyes cleared. “Shh!” she called out to the arguing women, who immediately stopped and looked over at her. “Do you hear that?” she asked. </p><p>Aragon frowned, then drew her sword. “Something’s coming” she said grimly. </p><p>Anne cocked her head and listened. “Do you hear…whistling?”</p><p>All four women listened and sure enough, they heard a high pitched “<em>eeeeEEEEEEE</em>” getting louder. They turned to face the bushes as a figure burst out from behind them.</p><p>Wait not one figure.</p><p>Two figures? </p><p>Wait, FOUR figures?</p><p>
  <em>“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-”</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. New Beginnings, Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The four women watched as a figure dressed in red came tearing out of the bushes, sprinting towards them…</p><p>…with a slightly taller woman in gray thrown over one shoulder, magic shooting in silvery crackling bolts from her staff as she screeched at a decibel that most humans were not accustomed to hearing, a sound that the two hounds sprinting just ahead were clearly wishing they couldn’t hear.</p><p>“QUIT SHOOTING IT, JANE,” the shorter woman roared, a giant axe clutched in her right hand as she held the screeching woman firmly in place with the other. She came skidding to a halt as her eyes met Kat’s. </p><p>“Cleves?” Kat whispered in disbelief.</p><p>Anne studied the newcomer closely. She was dressed simply, a leather and fur shoulder piece attached to a belt that held a dark red dress obviously made for battle, made of rough leather that allowed for a dexterous fighting style, and  leaving her left shoulder completely bare, her arms unhindered, a weighted mid piece held over the skirt by the belt holding her skirt in place and allowing for maximum range of movement. She wore sandals with straps wrapped around her leg up to her knee. She was very short, even shorter than Kat’s new blue magic friend, but extremely built. Her hair was short, and swept to one side, shades of red swirling through the chocolate brown. Her dark skin was littered with old scars and bruises.</p><p><em>A warrior</em>, Anne noted. Two hounds circled around the woman’s legs, glancing nervously back towards the bushes, but making no move to run from their master’s side. Looking in her eyes, Anne saw a bit of panic as the woman stared at Kat, and wondered what that was about. Before she could say anything about it, the new woman (Cleves was it?) shook her head and deposited the woman in gray onto the grass.</p><p>“Guess we’re fighting now that you’ve gone and pissed it off, Seymour,” she snarled, holding her axe at the ready as she planted herself in a wide stance facing away from the group. “Wiener, Schnitzel, <em>Flanke,</em>” she spat in Zemnian, and the dogs leapt to flank her, one on each side.</p><p>The blonde woman, clad in various shades of gray, a dark gray cloak whipping around her as she dusted her lighter gray dress off with her left hand, her right clutching a staff with a cube-like stone on the end that crackled with electric energy, sniffed indignantly. “I’ve told you not to call me that-”</p><p>“Jane?” It was Anne, Kat and Aragon who spoke, looking at Jane Seymour as though they had seen a ghost. They wore matching expressions with varying amounts of shock, mingled with clear relief.</p><p>Jane just stared back at them, uncertain of what to say.</p><p>Parr glanced between the four frozen women and rolled her eyes, striding up next to the axe-wielding woman, who had not spared a glance for the drama unfolding behind her. “What’s coming?” she asked, her hands lighting up with blue fire. She glanced up at the falcon circling, and gently willed her familiar to come to her. The falcon dove down slowing down just in time to land on Parr’s shoulder. <em>Thanks, Mae,</em> Parr thought as the bird snuggled up into her.</p><p>“I don’t know what it is,” Cleves said, and Parr watched as her eyes turned a bright yellow. Parr felt her own eyes cloud over with blue as they faced the heavy, earth shaking stomps approaching, a roar sending all the nearby birds into the air to flee, and announcing the arrival of an unwelcome member of the part. “But it’s definitely not a friend.”<br/> </p><p><br/>******</p><p> </p><p>A towering, broad figure, at least 15 feet tall, stumbled over the bushes into the clearing. The six women gathered stared up at it in disgust. There was no denying that this creature was clearly a giant.</p><p>Well. Perhaps it USED to be a giant.</p><p>Parts of it’s skin and sinew were ripped away to display the clean bone beneath, the flesh around the openings scattered across the body rotting. Its skin, hinted at once having been a healthy blue-gray color, but was now gray-white and covered in bruises that would never heal. It brought with it a smell so putrid, the grass at it’s feet wilted within seconds. Its eyes where a milky white with spots of a sickly green, like moss had taken root and spread across the pupiless eyes. Its rotting yellow teeth were visible as it let out another vicious roar. It grabbed a tree, yanking it from the ground in one jerky motion, and swung it down at the person closest to it. </p><p>All six women immediately sprang into action.</p><p>Cleves was the fastest, dodging the tree and racing towards the giant with a roar of her own, that sounded to the others eerily similar to a wolf’s howl. She swung her axe into the back of it’s knee, connecting, Weiner and Schnitzel tearing into the same spot, causing the knee to buckle. </p><p>The tree in its hand went swinging wildly in Kat’s direction. Kat, not fast enough to flee, reached up to protect her face with her arms, only to feel no impact. She looked up to see Aragon, holding a large shield, and grunting against the tree’s weight, keeping Kat safely underneath her. </p><p>Kat laid a hesitant hand on Aragon’s shoulder, smiling gratefully, before whispering a melody under her breath that Aragon could just barely hear, but pointing a figure towards the giant’s head.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“It's goin' down, I'm yellin' timber! </em>
</p><p><em>You better move, you better dance…”</em> </p><p> </p><p>Aragon watched in shock as the giant groaned, reaching its hands up to cover its ears. “Well done,” she said with a grin, and the bard looked up at her proudly. “Thanks!”</p><p>As the giant was distracted, Parr ran over to Jane. “Hit it on three?” she asked, making some gestures with her hands so that they lit up with blue fire. </p><p>Jane grinned and her own hands began to crackle with lightning energy. “You got it.”</p><p>“One-”</p><p>“Two-”</p><p>“Aragon!” Everyone turned to see Anne running at Aragon at a sprint. “SHIELD!” </p><p>Aragon’s face lit up and she yelled out to Parr, “Get ready!” Parr nodded and watched carefully, Jane watching her in turn for her cue. </p><p>Aragon bent down under her shield, this time readying her muscles to lift. As Anne leaped onto the shield, Aragon pushed up the moment she felt her boots make contact, sending Anne flying at the giant who was still reeling from the dissonant whispers of Kat’s magic, and Cleves’ devastating blow to the knee.</p><p>“THREE!” Parr roared and she and Jane sent their respective fire and lightning bolts at the creature, just as Anne slammed into its upper body, driving her rapier through one eye. </p><p>It roared one last time as the bolts hit, and it and Anne went flying backwards, Anne gripping her rapier tight and landing with a pained thud over the giant’s corpse.</p><p>There was a moment of stunned silence as Anne staggered to her feet, Kat sprinting to her side, throwing Anne’s arm around her shoulders to help her get to her feet. </p><p>Aragon stumbled over to the cousins. “How did you know the Shield maneuver?” she asked, poking the giant with a sword as if to make sure it was dead. </p><p>Anne winced as her arm throbbed before Kat took it in her hands and began to sing a quiet tune to heal the damage. “Doesn’t everyone know about Shield?” she asked with a pained grin. Aragon just stared at her curiously before realizing there were more pressing matters than Anne knowing secret Dwendalian knight’s tactics.</p><p>She whirled around to see Jane giving Cleves a look over, and Cleves patting her hands away with a good-natured smile, her once golden wild eyes a calm brown once more. They both heard booming footsteps approaching and Jane turned to see Aragon barreling towards them. She gave a slight yelp of alarm, and attempted to hide behind the much smaller barbarian.</p><p> Cleves took one look at the charging paladin and darted out of reach. Jane braced for impact before being swept up in a warm, surprisingly not pointy hug. She opened her eyes and realized that Aragon’s armor had disappeared, leaving behind a plain white shirt and black trousers with a yellow sash around her middle. Aragon hugged her tight, as if she thought that Jane might disappear if she let go. </p><p>“He told us you died,” Aragon whispered. Jane let out the breath she’d been holding, and sank into the familiar embrace, pulling her old friend close. “I’m okay, Catherine,” she said softly. Aragon didn’t say anything, and just hugged her tighter.</p><p>Anne watched as Kat and Cleves interacted. Kat was talking animatedly, trying to draw Cleves into conversation, and Cleves looked…well, uncomfortable was an understatement.</p><p>Filing that away for later, she glanced at the approaching figure.</p><p>“Hi,” Anne said. “You’re Catherine Parr, right?” </p><p>“Parr, yes,” Parr said coolly. She hesitated, remembering Kat’s reaction, but finally stretched out her hand. Anne took it immediately, not breaking eye contact. “You’re Anne Boleyn,” Parr continued.</p><p>Anne smiled wryly. “Yes, I’m sure your godmother had wonderful things to say about me.”</p><p>Parr studied her. “Yes,” she said after a moment, watching as Anne’s face hardened. <em>Interesting</em>. “But I like to form my own opinions about people when given the chance.” </p><p>Anne’s eyebrow quirked slightly at that and she gave a small smile. Not the twisted smirk she had given Aragon earlier, but a genuine one. They studied each other for a moment too long, before a flustered Parr, trying not to show her discomfort, turned away. “Well, you seem to know everyone.”</p><p>Anne shrugged. “Kat’s my cousin, I know Jane and Aragon from court, I’ve heard briefly about you from your godmother and about Cleves from Kat.” She glanced briefly at Cleves, who was clearly trying to relax, and very clearly having a hard time doing so. </p><p>“Are you leaving Rexxentrum?” Parr continued.</p><p>“Yeah. I have to get Kat out of the city.” </p><p>Parr nodded. “We have…similar reasons for needing to leave,” she said carefully.</p><p>Anne seemed to understand immediately. “You were gonna be next, huh?” she asked.</p><p>“Yes.” </p><p>They stood, watching the other four interact.</p><p>“Do you think…?”</p><p>“Yeah I do.” They glanced at each other before grinning. </p><p>“Hey guys!” Anne called out. Everyone stopped their talking, giving her their attention. “So, since we all seem to know each other, in some way, shape or form…” she trailed off, and taking the hint, Parr picked up her train of thought.</p><p>“We think there’s safety in numbers. Our priorities and goals appear to be similar.” Parr continued, before glancing back at Anne, as she knew the “unknown factors” in this idea better than she did.</p><p>“Are you two also looking to get away from the city?” Anne asked. </p><p>Cleves looked at Jane for confirmation, and Jane responded in her quiet way. “Yes. That’s why Cleves and I teamed up in the first place.”</p><p>Parr smiled. “Wanna come with us?” she asked, and her smile turned into a rare full grin as her godmother lit up and looked at Jane with pleading eyes. </p><p>Jane glanced up at Aragon and laughed lightly. “How about it, Cleves?” Cleves studied each woman in turn, skipping quickly over Kat and lingering slightly on Anne’s slightly narrowed eyes. </p><p>Cleves gulped but nodded. “There’s safety in numbers,” she echoed gruffly, but anyone could see she looked nervous.</p><p>“Well then,” Parr said, “I guess the six of us are going to be getting to know each other pretty well.”</p><p>“Ha. Don’t count on it Cathy.”</p><p>“Yeah, that’s Parr to you.”</p><p>“See? Wouldn’t count on it.”</p><p>Anne turned away from her teasing to glance up into the tree above her. A familiar raven looked back down at her. She glanced away to look at the new group, then back at the raven.  <em>Them?  </em>she thought, as though he could hear. He probably could. <em>No, not them.</em> </p><p>This felt right. She KNEW this was right. She shook head quickly as if to clear it and took a deep breath, as if to tell the raven what she thought of it and it’s premonitions. But when she looked back at the tree, the raven was gone.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Now that we've met all the queens, I'd like to introduce my personal headcanons for the actresses I imagine playing them (though of course, you are welcome to your own interpretations!):</p><p>Catherine of Aragon: J'Jaye Richard-Noel</p><p>Anne Boleyn: A mix of Millie O'Connell and Kala Gare </p><p>Jane Seymour: Loren Hunter (She just has such a SPECIFIC vibe that fits really well for [redacted class]!Seymour, like Alto!Seymour was truly a galaxy brain decision, well done Australia)</p><p>Anna of Cleves: Brittney Mack</p><p>Kat Howard: Samantha Pauly</p><p>Catherine Parr: Maiya Quansah-Breed</p><p>You can find more in-depth explanations and tidbits of backstory (including how Cleves and Seymour met!) if you scroll back a bit at this Instagram, where this whole concept originally started as a comic idea, along with some fun fan art!</p><p>https://www.instagram.com/crit.icalsix/</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Fireside Chat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The fire crackled as Anne took the middle watch for the night. She didn’t bother to actually “look” for danger. Being human, she was at a severe disadvantage in the dark. Instead, she relied on her hearing, filtering out the familiar snores coming from Aragon, a loud, honking type of noise that would put even the loudest of geese to shame. She ignored the occasional whimper she heard from Cleves, and the sounds of thrashing limbs from Jane.</p><p> </p><p>Instead, she listened for anything else that might sneak up on them in the night and focused her vision on Kat, who was fast asleep, head resting in Anne’s lap in a rare show of trust. Anne gently raised a hand to comb through Kat’s hair, watching as her cousin stiffened, her face twisting as if expecting a blow. Then she inhaled, and, taking in the familiar scent of pine and leather, settled back into her easy sleep, snuggling deeper into Anne’s lap.</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s heart broke as she watched the reaction, stroking Kat’s hair gently. <em>If only I’d found you sooner</em>. Kat was supposed to be keeping watch with Anne, but Anne didn’t have the heart to wake her. Someone in this group should get some sleep at least.</p><p> </p><p>“EDWAR-” Jane screamed, as if on cue, before cutting herself off, fist to her mouth, as she shot up from her place sandwiched between Cleves and Aragon. Cleves startled awake, and immediately leapt to her feet, breathing hard, reaching for her axe.</p><p> </p><p>Anne didn’t move. This had become a familiar chain of events in the past few weeks. “Jane, it’s okay,” she whispered as loud as she dared. “You’re okay. You too, Cleves.”</p><p> </p><p>She already knew what would happen next. Jane nodded, slightly disoriented, and settled back down. Cleves, too keyed up now to return to her fitful sleep, grabbed her axe and grunted “Tree.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne simply nodded as the barbarian stalked away. In order to get back to sleep after a nightmare, Cleves had to exhaust herself, and sometimes that involved cutting down a tree in the middle of the night. Not the healthiest way to go about things, but better than the alternatives they had seen her use in battle to vent her frustrations.</p><p> </p><p>Anne turned back to Kat’s shivering form, and was about to reach for a blanket, when a familiar hand beat her to it. She looked up into the eyes of their resident wizard, up late studying, who wordlessly handed her the blanket. Anne smiled gratefully, and draped it around Kat, who instinctively pulled it closer around herself as if worried someone was going to take it away from her in her sleep.</p><p> </p><p>Parr watched the bard’s reaction and sighed, settling down next to Anne, facing away from the fire, her falcon nestled in the crook of her shoulder. “She’s really been through something, hasn’t she?” she asked, almost less a question than a statement.</p><p> </p><p>Anne shrugged. “I think we all have.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr raised an eyebrow. “Have we?” Anne could hear the challenge in the wizard’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>Anne was more than willing to rise to it. “Well,” she began counting her observations on one hand, the other still gently stroking Kat’s hair, “Jane and Aragon have nightmares, Cleves does too and she’s always looking over her shoulder-”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, Catherine has nightmares?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked at her in surprise. “Yes. Didn’t you know?”</p><p> </p><p>Parr frowned. “I think I would know if my godmother was having nightmares.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say.”</p><p> </p><p>“What about me?” Parr asked. This time, it sounded more like a dare.</p><p> </p><p>Anne certainly wasn’t one to back down from a dare.</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked her in the eyes. “You don’t like fire,” she said in a low voice, seeing the confirmation that she was right as Parr’s eyes widened and her hands tightened in her cloak. “That’s why you won’t face it now,” she gestured to the way the wizard sat facing away from the flames, “that’s why when the fire is at it’s highest, when it’s roaring and crackling, you climb up into the nearest tree until it dies down to ‘study’.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr was no longer looking at her, and had reached one hand up to touch the other arm’s bracer. An awkward silence passed as Anne stared at Parr and Parr refused to look up, before Anne looked back down at Kat. “Well, you asked,” she muttered.</p><p> </p><p>“What are the chokers for?” Parr felt a sick sort of satisfaction as Anne stiffened next to her. “I cast Detect Magic back in the cave, before we ran across those skeletons. Hers is magic. Yours isn’t. Why do you wear them? What are they?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne studied Kat’s sleeping form then looked up at Parr, with a gentleness the wizard wasn’t expecting, that she hadn’t seen in the rogue before. “That’s not my story to tell,” Anne said softly. “She’ll tell you when she’s ready.”</p><p> </p><p>“And you?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll wear it for as long as she bears her burden.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr cracked a slight smile at that, but shook her head. “That’s sweet, but that’s not what I meant. What’s your great secret?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne faced her, her face twisted in a smile. Parr was beginning to learn that Anne had many smiles. She had the snide smirk she used when she teased Aragon, the supportive grin she used to comfort Kat, the seductive smile she leveled against the towns-guard to charm her way out of being arrested.</p><p> </p><p>But this? This smile was a smile of sadness, of anger, and of longing and self-pity. That was the best way Parr could explain it, and it was so strange to see those emotions on Anne’s face, so foreign to how Parr had grown to think of her chaotic, confident, and strangely caring friend.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re smart, Parr,” Anne murmured. “You’ll figure it out someday, I’m sure.” She held Parr’s gaze for another quiet, vulnerable moment, before turning away again. “You should get some sleep.” Parr nodded, accepting the gentle dismissal, sending Mae into a nearby tree.</p><p> </p><p>She climbed to her feet, walking quietly over to where her godmother lay, and was startled to see Aragon’s face buried in a pillow, shoulders heaving. “Catherine?” Parr whispered in alarm.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon continued sobbing nearly soundlessly, and Parr was just able to make out “-left her-” and understood. She lay down next to her godmother and pulled the larger woman into into her arms, not saying a word, just rubbing her back in slow circles, and letting her vision cloud over to look through her familiar’s eyes, at the two keeping watch.</p><p> </p><p>Anne was looking out into the night. Kat had twisted away in her sleep and was curled up a few feet from her older cousin. Parr watched as Anne pulled out a piece of worn blue cloth, and began wrapping it around her hands in slow, deliberate motions, as though she had done it countless times before. Parr wondered why she had never noticed Anne doing this before and realized-</p><p> </p><p>Anne didn’t <em>want</em> anyone to know before. So no one had. No one knew more than Anne wanted them to know about her. That was her power. The rest of them might have magic, and Cleves might have a nearly supernatural sense of rage and sheer physical ability, but Anne’s power was in information.</p><p> </p><p>Well, Parr happened to be quite good with information herself. Anne would keep dropping clues, and by the gods Parr was going to pick them up, and piece them together.</p><p> </p><p>She would figure out this enigma that was Anne Boleyn.</p><p> </p><p>The fire dimmed, lower and lower, with Anne only feeding it just enough kindling to keep it burning low, and in the comfort of the dim light, holding her sobbing godmother in her arms, Parr embraced the dark of sleep at last.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Touch, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>TW non-graphic descriptions of rape and sexual abuse</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anne was Kat’s second favorite person she had ever met.</p><p> </p><p>Up until meeting her cousin, she had little hope in her life. Her first hazy memories were of her parents pushing her into the arms of a smelly man, and being dragged away to an unfamiliar place. Of the pitying looks from the men and women around her as she was sat down in a chair by the smelly man.</p><p> </p><p>Her first clear memory was of the first time Baran placed the collar around her neck. She remembered the rough press of the leather and the clink of the chain around the hoop at its base. But most of all, she remembered the pain when Baran said an unfamiliar word. She tried to ask what was happening, and a felt the slice of a thousand daggers searing her neck. She remembered trying to scream, the pain intensifying, and no sound coming out as Baran laughed, giving her a swift kick to the ribs and telling her to get back to work.</p><p> </p><p>For seven years, she didn’t say a word. Each time she tried, the dagger-like pain sliced into her neck. And no sound came out.</p><p> </p><p>She was 10 when they stopped having her do menial tasks around the brothel. She was 10 when Baran declared her a woman. She was 10 when the torture truly began. She was 10 when she decided that maybe death was the only way to truly escape this sort of cruel, endless misery.</p><p> </p><p>She was 11 the first time she met the mysterious Man in Black. The first time he came to the brothel, she looked at him with dull eyes she could no longer hide, and he stared back coldly, his eyes an icy blue. “That one,” he had said in a brisk voice, straightening his gloves as he looked her over. “I’ll have that one.”</p><p> </p><p>“For how long?” Baran had asked, studying this foolish young man in his expensive suit as a shark eyes a seal, his greedy mind already doing calculations.</p><p> </p><p>The man smirked, a cold, humorless smile, and grabbed Baran’s startled face in one gloved hand. “For as long as I want, little man.” He tilted his head and bared his teeth, his eyes flashing white with arcane energy. “And you’re going to give that to me for free, because you <em>like</em> me,” he hissed. Baran tensed for a horrible, drawn out moment, then slumped in the man's grip.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course sir, as much time as you’d like. We have a very nice room upstairs.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat felt, for the first time in a long time, an emotion other than a dull sense of dread. Now, she felt true fear. A man who could do something like that to Baran…</p><p> </p><p>She shuddered to think what he would do to <em>her</em>.</p><p> </p><p>“Come with me,” he said, striding up the staircase. Knowing better than do anything other than exactly as he ordered, she trailed after him. They entered the room. The “Play Room.” Kat had only been there once, and her only true wish in life, a foolish wish, was to never stay the night there again.</p><p> </p><p>A wish that would clearly go unanswered.</p><p> </p><p>She was ushered into the room, as the man locked the door behind them. She couldn’t look at him. She shut her eyes tight as she felt his hands reach up to her neck…</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes snapped open as she felt the collar come off. She brought her fingers up to touch the scarred skin hidden for so many years. She stared at the man, whose eyes no longer looked cold. Instead, his blue eyes twinkled as he gave her a sad smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello Katherine,” he whispered, as if afraid to startle her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come any sooner.” His hair, black and blonde as if it couldn’t decide which it wanted to be, was no longer in its neat coif, but a mess atop his head. His clothes no longer that of a rich businessman, but a simple black shirt and black pants. His feet were bare, and his pale, clean skin seemed wrong next to hers as he held out his hand for her to take. She tentatively placed her hand in his, feeling dirty and ashamed.</p><p> </p><p>“No, love,” he whispered softly. “There is no shame here. It is men like him,” he glared over his shoulder before returning his gaze to the young girl before him, “who should feel ashamed.” He reached his hands to hover around her neck, and they glowed white as a warm, healing magic eased the pain from the collar. After he had done what he could, he dropped down and sat on the floor in front of her. “You can talk if you’d like,” he said, his voice still carefully soft.</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes widened, and she coughed a few times. “I can talk?” she asked hoarsely, and her face lit up. “I can talk!” she exclaimed as loud as she dared.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” the man said with a small smile. “They can’t hear us.”</p><p> </p><p>So many times she had heard those words, but for once, they felt like a gift and not a threat. “Who are you?” she asked, sitting on the floor across from him.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m a friend,” he replied. “And I wish I could do more,” he said, his voice serious, “But I can’t directly interfere.”</p><p> </p><p>He saw her face fall and gently tipped her head to look at him. “But I can teach you,” he said firmly.</p><p> </p><p>She cocked her head. “Teach me?” she asked, still wary.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell me Katherine,” he asked as he pulled out a few sheets of paper from thin air. “Do you like music?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne was her second favorite person she had ever met. Because the Man in Black was her first.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Touch, Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kat was twelve when she met Anne. Only five or so years older than Kat herself, Anne had tried to buy Katherine from Baran right then and there, but by that time, Kat had made herself too useful as a dancer for him to sell.</p><p> </p><p>Anne swore to Katherine she would free her, and to her surprise, Kat believed her completely. There was something about the fierceness in the older teenager’s eyes that told her this was someone who <em>did</em> love her. Not what they talked about in stories, or what men said when they hovered over her in the night, but the love of a family member, blood or not, of someone who it was destroying to see Kat treated this way.</p><p> </p><p>Anne saved Kat in many ways over the years. One night, after a particularly rough, violent encounter with a client when Kat was 14, she was about to give up on it all, on the Man in Black, who visited as often as he could, on Anne who she had not heard from in years, and worst of all, on herself.</p><p> </p><p>But then a large black raven had swooped into her room with a letter wrapped around a small object. Kat cracked a rare smile as the raven allowed her to pet it, watched as it preened at the attention, before flying out the door. She heard Baran yelling for someone to get it out, and turned her attention to the note. Thanking whatever higher beings there might be for the Man in Black’s reading lessons, Kat opened it traced her fingers over the words as she read.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Kat,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I am so sorry I haven’t been able to write or communicate with you before this. I was sent back to Tal’Dorei after meeting you, across the sea from where you are in Wildemount, and am kept under close watch. This bird I have sent to you…he’s a strange fellow, but he always seems to show up when I need him to, and I got the feeling he wanted to help get this to you.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I was told by a contact (I trust him, please don’t worry) that you are musically gifted, and that you have a teacher showing you how to turn that gift into magic. I’m glad you are receiving help, and I hope that this will not only add to your abilities, but will bring you some measure of joy until I can get to you and help you in your escape, if you do not escape on your own first.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It looks like a simple block of wood, and to any who do not know what it is, it will continue look that way. But if you think of any instrument you wish, it will turn into that instead, and only you and those you choose to allow to hear it and see it will be able to do so. I hope this helps in some small way, and if this raven friend of mine is so willing, I will try to send you whatever I can to help.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The same type of magic was used on this note as was used to enchant your new instrument. To everyone but you, it is a blank piece of paper.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Know that I love you, and that I spend every waking moment trying to get back to you in Wildemount, and to getting you out of that gods forsaken place.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Your cousin, your blood, and your family,</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Anne Boleyn</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Kat was stunned. She turned her attention to the piece of wood, stowing the paper away carefully in bosom of her dress. She thought of the lute, an instrument the man in black had shown her, and watched in delight as the wood expanded and strings stretched across the gaping hole in the middle. Her pulse pounding in her ears, she strummed a few experimental chords. Not a sound could be heard reacting to the melody she began picking out.</p><p> </p><p>Tears pricked at her eyes as she hugged the instrument close. <em>I can do this</em>, she thought, fierce now in her own determination to learn all she could, every spell, every piece she could.</p><p> </p><p>Whatever it took to escape.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>And escape she did. She charmed Baran into letting her sing for the patrons when she was 18. He removed her collar before the performance, with a stern warning to behave.</p><p> </p><p>And she sang. She sang, weaving every bit of magic she could into her song to put the patrons to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>You can take everything I have,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You can break everything I am,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Like I'm made of glass,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Like I'm made of paper</em>
</p><p> </p><p>One by one, they dropped into a deep slumber. She approached Baran as he struggled to stay awake. She thought of the gleaming towers of the cities in the Empire that the Man in Black had told her about. She thought of how she too, would rise above.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Go on and try to tear me down</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I will be rising from the ground</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Like a skyscraper.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Baran at last succumbed. She took his coin. She did not take his life.</p><p> </p><p>Anne took care of that later.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Kat asked if he suffered. Anne told her it would never be anything close to what Kat herself had endured, but she had done the best she could.</p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Anne, though she did not free her from the brothel, did free her from what seemed like a second prison.</p><p> </p><p>Marriage to King Henry Dwendal was not what Kat had planned in becoming a lady in waiting. Kat was waiting in Jane’s- no, <em>her</em> chambers now, sitting at the window in the tallest tower, trying not to cry. She had been so close, so close, to finding out how to get to Anne, and now…</p><p> </p><p>She was trapped again. And as she looked out the window, watching the sunset, hearing the labored breaths of the King coming up the stairs-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Wait.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The heavy breathing wasn’t coming from the stairs, and the King would be occupied for hours yet, as the focus of the wedding celebrations. She stood and leaned out the window to see-</p><p> </p><p>“Anne?” she exclaimed. Sure enough, though of course much older than the last time they had met, there, scaling up the side of the tallest tower in Rexxentrum, was the familiar sight of Anne Boleyn.</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked up from cursing the rope she was currently climbing. “Hey, Kit Kat!” she said with what would become a familiar, comforting smile, brown hair whipping about her beaming face. “Ready to get out of there?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat tore off the formal headdress from the wedding and scooped up the piece of wood, whose form now defaulted to an instrument Kat designed herself, and lovingly referred to as her “Kazoo”.</p><p> </p><p>She pulled out a raven’s feather and began to hum and casting Feather Fall. “Absolutely. And I have an easier way down than the rope.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, thank the gods!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Touch, Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TW reference to past sexual abuse</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So tell me,” Anne said with a grin, one arm slung around Kat’s shoulder. “Does K Howard feel like performing tonight?”</p><p> </p><p>Parr's brow furrowed as she waited for Kat's reaction. It was strange, watching the cousins interact. Anne was the only one allowed to touch Kat, for one thing. Aragon struggled with this, and several times had to check herself, pulling back from giving the girl a hug or patting her on the shoulder. Outside of Anne, the only ones allowed to touch Kat freely were Weiner and Schnitzel. Parr had seen Cleves watching in amusement as the hounds tackled the bard, covering her giggling face with slobbering kisses.</p><p> </p><p>Another strange thing Parr noticed was that they had a seemingly never-ending list of nicknames for each other. Normally, that wouldn’t be strange at all. But each of these names seemed to have individual meanings.</p><p> </p><p>“Howie” had come out a few times, a warning that there was a fight about to break out. They had all been shocked when Anne had suggested that “Kitty” go and talk to a guard, watching Kat slink over to the armored woman, distracting her with a flirtatious persona they’d never seen in the girl, as Anne pocketed the keys slung at the guard’s belt.</p><p> </p><p>Anne seemed to become hyper-aware of any situation the second Kat called her “Annie.” She would scan the room, before zeroing in on someone and saying something that made the offending party leave the establishment in a hurry.</p><p> </p><p>And none of them would forget the time the cousins had been cornered by a guard, and Kat called Anne 'Boleyn.' Within seconds, they were yelling at each other, the party watching in alarm as the two screamed at each other as though they weren’t the best of friends and closer than most siblings. Then, as Kat reached back as if to punch Anne, Anne had grabbed the dagger at Kat’s belt, throwing it at the guard’s face, just as Kat released a bolt from her hand to electrocute the dagger, and in turn the guard as it sank into his left eye.</p><p> </p><p>Anne simply pat Kat on the shoulder and the two rejoined the party, acting as though nothing strange had happened.</p><p> </p><p>K Howard was an unfamiliar nickname. But what they <em>did</em> know was that Kat wasn’t one for performing. “Kat, you don’t have to-” Aragon started, glancing at Anne curiously.</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s fine,” Kat said cheerfully, pulling out a small block of wood. They all watched in amazement as it grew and morphed into a beautiful lute, with swirling patterns carved around the wood. “Where do you think?” she asked Anne, tuning the lute as they walked.</p><p> </p><p>Anne squinted and pointed at a tavern at the end of the street. “How about there?”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>The Ugly Duckling</em>?” Jane asked, brow furrowed. “Why there?”</p><p> </p><p>“Who knows, who cares?” Cleves groaned. Parr held back a laugh. There were two things Cleves did not like about being in an “adventuring” party: Shopping of any sort and discussion about where to stay the night or eat. “As long as they have meat, I know <em>I</em> don’t care.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know, you should really try eating some vegetables, Cleves,” Jane said, following after the barbarian, who scoffed at the very thought.</p><p> </p><p>“Absolutely not.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>The inn looked run down and old on the outside, and Parr began to question, as was so often the case, Anne’s sanity. However, upon entering, her fears were laid to rest.</p><p> </p><p>“This place is so nice!” Kat exclaimed. “How did you know about it, Anne?”</p><p> </p><p>“I have my sources,” Anne said with a small smile, before striding away to talk to the owner.</p><p> </p><p>This was something else Parr was trying to get used to, and failing miserably. It always seemed like they were able to stay one step ahead of the guards who were on the look out for Kat after she escaped from Henry. And every time, Anne had information that led to this step ahead. When asked how she knew, she would simply say “I have my sources,” and walk away.</p><p> </p><p>And she was never wrong.</p><p> </p><p>“Can we afford this?” Parr murmured to her godmother.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon looked around, taking in the plush décor, strange for a run of the mill inn and tavern. “I’m not sure, to be honest.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane joined their little huddle. “I feel like Anne is up to something,” she said, keeping her eyes trained on where Kat had gone to tune her lute.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you think she’s in on it?” Parr asked jerking her head in Kat’s direction.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves spoke up from behind. “Doubtful,” she said in her rough Zemnian accent. “But she trusts Anne, so she’s going along with it.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon sighed. “Should <em>we</em> be trusting Anne?” she asked. Parr knew why she had her doubts. As much as Aragon understood perfectly well that there were many factors that led to the dissolution of her marriage to the King and the subsequent fallout, Parr knew a part of the paladin blamed the younger woman, at least a bit.</p><p> </p><p>“I think we can at least trust that she wouldn’t put Kat in danger on purpose,” Jane responded evenly, almost as if trying to convince herself as much as the rest of them, and they all nodded in agreement. Anne might be shifty when she wasn’t taking the human form of chaos itself, but she would never willingly put Kat in a situation she didn’t feel they could handle. If there was any fact they knew to be absolutely true about the rogue, it was that.</p><p> </p><p>“Well if that’s settled, I’m going to get a drink and some MEAT,” Cleves declared, setting off to find a table, her hounds, as always, right at her side, and Jane trailing behind, trying to impress upon the Zemnian barbarian the importance of leafy food.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon wrapped an arm around her goddaughter. “What are we doing, Cathy?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy leaned into the embrace. “Safety in numbers,” she said with a slight shrug.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, well, I have a feeling that one of our number is going to get us killed,” Aragon growled.</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t take a genius to know who she was referring to. “You know, Anne really isn’t that bad when you get to know her,” Cathy said in a careful tone.</p><p> </p><p>Thankfully, Aragon didn’t get angry. She just gave a slight grunt, then looked sideways at her goddaughter as if something had just occurred to her. “Hmm,” she said with a playful smirk.</p><p> </p><p>Parr frowned. “What?”</p><p> </p><p>“Absolutely nothing,” Aragon said with a little laugh, before squeezing Parr once and walking after Jane and Cleves. Parr, completely baffled, turned her attention to where Anne was, by the bar.</p><p> </p><p>She was talking to…</p><p> </p><p>A child?</p><p> </p><p>She watched as Anne knelt down in front of the young boy, performing a strange hand motion that he echoed, before they high-fived each other and he pulled his hand away to reveal a gold coin. His face lit up and he launched himself at the rogue, hugging Anne around the neck. Anne laughed, giving him a squeeze and ruffling his blonde hair. “Tell her I said hi,” she said, and he grinned up at her, a tooth in the front missing.</p><p> </p><p>“I will! Thanks, Nan!” He ran off, out of the establishment. Anne turned and lifted an eyebrow at where Parr was standing, jaw hanging open.</p><p> </p><p>“You might want to close that,” she said with a teasing smile. “You’ll catch flies.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr blinked and shut her mouth. “Kids, huh?” she was able to get out.</p><p> </p><p>Anne shrugged. “Kids are cool,” she said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Anyway, I got the owner to agree to let us stay the night if Kat plays.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr frowned. “And Kat’s alright with that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep. We’ve done this before.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is she well known or something?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s expression darkened for a hint of a second, so fast that if she hadn’t been staring at the rogue as intently as she was at that moment, she would have missed it. “Or something.” Anne’s tone didn’t invite further inquiry.</p><p> </p><p>Parr didn’t press.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Kat was grateful for Anne occasionally pushing her to perform. She always seemed to have a sense of when she needed to, and never pushed further when Kat said it didn’t feel right.</p><p> </p><p>Kat loved playing and singing. She loved losing herself in the performance. She didn’t really like performing for <em>people </em>necessarily, but she had confided in Anne that it was a step for her, to express herself with her music, to let people see a vulnerable side to her.</p><p> </p><p>But music was also her weapon, and as long as she could make a noise, she was dangerous. Performances were no longer the chain that held her down, but the dagger that she could juggle or throw, whichever she chose.</p><p> </p><p>And now, looking at the crowd, she saw Anne’s easy smile, and the others’ surprised faces as she launched into full performance mode, singing songs she had been taught by the man in black, or made up herself. Her eyes flicked over the crowd, and her eye was caught by a man, sitting in the left corner in the front row. More specifically, she noticed the ring sitting on his right index finger. A large, gaudy ring, with a purple gemstone set in it. He leered at her, his eyes not trained on her own eyes or on her lute.</p><p> </p><p>The funny thing about her trauma-</p><p> </p><p><em>"It </em>is<em> trauma,” Anne had insisted as she held her on one of those first nights, stroking her hair. It took time to truly understand, but Anne was right, and  Kat needed less and less reminders nowadays.</em></p><p> </p><p>-was that she didn’t often remember faces of the patrons where she was once kept. She would remember seemingly random things, such as a tall black staff used to break her ribs or the exact make of a pair of boots.</p><p> </p><p>And she knew that ring. She still had a scar on her chin from where he had struck her with it.</p><p> </p><p>Repeatedly.</p><p> </p><p>“This next song,” Kat said, with a bright smile, “Is dedicated to my darling cousin, ‘A’.” She watched in amusement as Parr’s head whipped to look at Anne. She saw Anne stiffen, and narrow her eyes slightly at Kat, but nod in acceptance.</p><p> </p><p>(“<em>'A' is for when I need to do something that seems bat-shit crazy, and I need you to not interfere,” Kat said during that second night of freedom.</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Anne frowned. “That feels fair if you promise not to abuse it.” Kat nodded. “And if I ever full name you, it means you need to leave immediately.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Kat opened her mouth to protest but stopped at the hard look in Anne’s eyes. “There are some things I do that I do not want you, or anyone, to ever have to see. Or that I don’t think you can see and be okay.” Anne held out her hand. “I won’t abuse mine if you won’t abuse yours.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Kat eyed the hand, before gingerly taking it and gripping it.</em>
</p><p> </p><p><em>“Deal.”</em>)</p><p> </p><p>Kat’s bright smile didn’t falter as she looked away from her cousin’s narrowed eyes. “But, I do want to make this fun for the rest of you. In fact,” she said, kneeling provocatively at the edge of the stage. “I’ve had my eye on <em>you</em> all evening.” She smiled at the man with the ring, offering a hand. “Care to come onstage?”</p><p> </p><p>He leaped at the chance, grabbing her hand (she recoiled internally) and hauling himself up. She led him to a chair. He sat, legs spread, a smirk on his lips as he ogled her.</p><p> </p><p>Kat swallowed the bile rising in her throat and began to sing, putting away the wooden block that served as so many instruments and plucking sounds from the air itself, disguising her movements to do so in the form of a sensual dance, while opening her mouth to sing, ignoring the concerned whispers of the party.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That something wasn't right here?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Oh baby, baby, I shouldn't have let you go</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And now you're out of sight, yeah</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She made sure she was facing away from the audience when she felt Hold Person take effect, allowing herself a satisfied smirk of her own, before turning back, standing behind where he sat, held immobile in the chair, slipping her hands over his shoulders down across his chest to lean down and sing directly into his ear.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Show me how you want it to be</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tell me, baby, 'cause I need to know now, oh because</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She took his hand, the one with the ring, and placed it over her scar, and she saw his eyes widen, the little they could within the constraints of the spell, with recognition.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>My loneliness is killing me and I</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I must confess I still believe</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Kat added what the Man in Black had called Vicious Mockery to her weave of magic, casting the cantrip as she sang, aiming the invisible magic to strike over and over at his heart, her eyes never leaving his, pulling his hair back gently from where she stood beside him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>When I'm not with you I lose my mind</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Give me a sign</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She released Hold Person in time for him to gasp before she cast one last spell, taking his hand and kneeling by him once more, using his hand to hide her face as she released Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Hit me, baby, one more time...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He gasped with what might count to some as a laugh, before crashing forward from the chair into a heap.</p><p> </p><p>The outcry was immediate, and Kat feigned horror at the man’s death, backing away and running off the stage into her cousin’s waiting arms.</p><p> </p><p>Anne gripped her tightly, whispering so only she could hear. “Are you alright?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat nodded, hiding her face in Anne’s shoulder. “I got him.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne pressed a kiss to Kat’s temple. “You sure did.”</p><p> </p><p>The owner of the establishment hurried over to them, pressing a handkerchief to his balding head. “I am so sorry,” he said breathlessly as he approached. “Is she alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” Anne demanded, ignoring his question and keeping Kat in a tight embrace.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re…not sure. Perhaps a heart attack? He was a little older, it would make sense” the man said. “Well, it seems you helped him at least, young lady.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon, who was watching this exchange with growing incredulity, finally broke. “How in <em>Pelor’s name</em> did she help him?” she exclaimed. “The man is <em>dead</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, he’s dead,” the innkeeper said. “But at least he went out with a smile on his face.”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone but Kat turned to look and they saw, eyes staring lifelessly at the torches above, the man’s face twisted into a grotesque smile.</p><p> </p><p>“My apologies, of course, Miss Howard,” the owner said, “Your rooms are free, and upgraded. I am so sorry for the inconvenience.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat pretended to sniffle and just nodded into Anne’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>Anne took the keys to their rooms. “Thank you, <em>monsieur</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>“What was that?” Aragon demanded as soon as they had all shut themselves in one of the three rooms they had rented for the night.</p><p> </p><p>Kat glanced at Anne, and Anne made a little gesture with her head. <em>Your call</em> was what her cousin was saying, and Kat turned to face the women she had been living with for the past…nearly two months now.</p><p> </p><p>Despite the outburst, Aragon didn’t seem angry. She seemed more confused. The ever-patient Jane looked at her curiously, and Parr’s gaze was less patient, but no less curious. Cleves…</p><p> </p><p>Well, Cleves was continuing with this idea she had, that if she didn’t look at Kat, maybe she didn’t exist. Which hurt, but Kat was sure Cleves had a reason. Maybe not a good one, but a reason nonetheless.</p><p> </p><p>She took a deep breath. “Anne is my second favorite person in the whole world,” she began.</p><p> </p><p>And she told them her story. The Man in Black. The cousin in green. And the girl in pink, who carved out her own escape.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>There was a heavy silence in the seconds following the conclusion of Kat’s story. Kat kept her eyes trained on the ground. In the course of telling the story, she had grown more and more uncomfortable, and by the end of it, had curled up into a ball, her arms wrapped around her knees, which she held close to her chest.</p><p> </p><p>After what seemed like ages, she heard someone kneel down in front of her. “Kat,” Jane said softly. “Will you look at me?” Kat swallowed and forced herself to look up at Jane. Warm, kind Jane who had been almost a mother figure for the short amount of time Kat acted as her lady in waiting. Her blue eyes were filled with tears, but she still tried to smile. “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” she said softly. “But thank you for telling us. That was very brave.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat choked down a sob. “I’m not brave,” she whispered. “I could have gotten out sooner, I-”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Parr said, coming to sit beside her, careful not to touch, but a comforting presence nonetheless. “You got out exactly when you could, and you did it on your own. That’s incredible,” Parr said, with one of her rare smiles. It faded as her eyes widened with realization. “Is that why you wear the chokers?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>Kat nodded. “Mine hides the scars from the collar. Anne offered to take me to a healer but,” she reached up to touch the black choker. “I’m not ready yet,” she finished before smiling briefly at her cousin, but keeping her eyes averted. “She wears hers in solidarity.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon sat on the other side of her, also careful not to touch. “That man,” she said slowly. “The one that just died-”</p><p> </p><p>“I killed him,” Kat said, her eyes hardening. She looked up at Aragon, gesturing towards the scar on her chin. “He was a regular,” she continued flatly, as if daring the paladin to tell her what she had done was wrong. “No one should have to go through what I did at his hands.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne watched closely, interested in the former queen’s reaction.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon met the bard's gaze and gave a single nod of acceptance. This was what Kat needed for closure. And it was done for the right reasons. Justice, the paladin understood.</p><p> </p><p>“He deserved it,” came a low voice from across the room. Kat saw Cleves actually looking at her, directly at her, with a fire in her eyes, and carefully controlled anger in her voice. “<em>Er war ein Stück Scheiße</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat swallowed a laugh at the barbarian’s language and settled for giving her a grateful smile. Cleves allowed herself a small smile in return.</p><p> </p><p>Kat broke her gaze and finally looked at Anne. Anne, who had never looked at her in any other way, no matter what Kat did or what she learned of Kat’s past. She looked at her with fierce pride and unconditional love. And now, she just smiled at her cousin, having heard the story before, though Kat could see the anger, similar to Cleves’, brimming in her eyes. Kat had tried to tell her none of it was her fault, but Anne wouldn’t discuss it with her, not wanting to add her guilt to Kat’s already existing pain.</p><p> </p><p>Kat sighed. That was an issue for another day. For now…</p><p> </p><p>“Jane,” she said softly, uncurling her knees and looking up at the spellcaster. “Can I have a hug?”</p><p> </p><p>Jane’s eyebrows shot up, but she immediately smiled and held her arms out. Kat gingerly tucked herself into the older woman’s embrace as Anne looked on, proud as ever.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Kat eventually passed out in Jane’s arms. Not wanting to disturb her, Anne suggested Jane stay with her. “Are you sure?” Jane asked, surprised. It was always the same when they stayed at an inn. The Cousins, Jane and Cleves, Aragon and Parr.</p><p> </p><p>Anne smiled. “She trusts you all now.” She swallowed before continuing. “I trust you. Mostly,” she corrected herself, glaring at Parr, who looked ready to interject. “At least enough to look after Kat for the night.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane nodded. “I’ve got her,” she said, tucking a stray lock of hair behind Kat’s ear.</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” Anne said, standing up and stretching. She clapped Cleves on the shoulder. “Looks like it’s you and me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Lucky for you, these upgraded rooms have big beds.” Anne choked on air and Cleves smirked. “Yeah no, you wish. You get to share with the dogs.” Cleves said, brushing the hand on her shoulder away. “I sleep on the floor. They’re weird like you and like beds.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wha-?”</p><p> </p><p>“She always does that,” Jane said to a confused Anne. “She says beds are uncomfortable and we’re all insane for using them, and I always get two living, breathing pillows.” She shrugged. “Their breath is terrible, but they’re warm and cuddly.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne grinned and trailed after the warrior. “Cool, I get to share the bed and not be expected to buy my bedmates breakfast in the morning.” Jane bit back a laugh as Aragon and Parr both made strangled noises. Anne threw a wink in their direction. “G'night, guys!”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon shuddered, but walked over to Jane and Kat, touching Jane’s shoulder. “You good?” she asked. Parr watched the interaction, amused.</p><p> </p><p>Jane patted her hand. “I’m good,” she confirmed. “Could you bring over some of those pillows?”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon and Parr helped Jane arrange herself and the bard on the pillows, bade the spellcaster good night, and left to find their room.</p><p> </p><p>Parr glanced up at her godmother. “Are <em>you</em> good?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon sighed. “I can’t blame her for what she did. But I don’t love it. It feels like…” Aragon trailed off.</p><p> </p><p>“Like Mary,” Parr finished for her. “I feel like this is a different situation, Catherine.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” Aragon agreed. “I think…” she trailed off again, before forcing herself to continue. “I think things are getting worse.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr knew what she was referring to. Every day, they heard of more disappearances, more enemies of the king whisked away, never to be seen again. And yet no one seemed to have seen the king in months. Parr rubbed her godmother’s back. “It’ll turn out okay,” she said, trying to inject the optimism she knew Aragon needed.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon smiled at the effort and wrapped her arm around Parr, pulling her close. “Come on, <em>mija</em>. It’s been a long day.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>To be clear on languages real quick:<br/>English=Common<br/>German = Zemnian<br/>Spanish=Nicodranian Common<br/>French=Elvish</p><p>Song Used: ...Baby One More Time by Britney Spears (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-u5WLJ9Yk4)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Flirting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anne grit her teeth in annoyance as another man came up to her, asking to buy her a drink.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell you what,” she said, “You can buy me a drink, and in exchange,” she booped his nose with a smirk. “I won’t cut off your ear.” The offending man flinched as he felt the cold press of steel against the side of his face, carefully hidden from the view of the bartender.</p><p> </p><p>He nodded, and Anne released him. “Good boy.” She glanced at the lone figure at the back of the room. “Get me two drinks, and you can keep both ears,” she said, twirling the dagger expertly, not breaking eye contact. The man nodded and quickly called for two steins of ale.</p><p> </p><p>“A pleasure doing business with you,” Anne smirked, before grabbing the steins, and walking to where Cathy Parr had her nose buried in one of her many books.</p><p> </p><p>The wizard winced as Anne slouched down next to her, sliding her one of the steins. “I don’t get it!” Anne exclaimed, and Parr sighed, reluctantly putting her book down.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t get what?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne glared at the man exiting the tavern. “Why do they always go after me, Kat and Cleves? Why don’t they go after you?”</p><p> </p><p>Parr frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re gorgeous and you usually sit alone, so why don’t these sleaze-balls ever go after you?”</p><p> </p><p>Parr flushed at the unintentional compliment. “Ah,” she said, trying to compose herself. “Well, there’s this thing called a vibe, Anne. And the vibe I give off says ‘Approach me and I will hurt you.’”</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked at her curiously. “I never got that vibe.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr rolled her eyes. “Yes, well your vibe checking skills are practically non-existent.” She gave a pointed glance down at the table.</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s brow furrowed as she glanced down at the book on the table, then back up at Parr’s expectant gaze.</p><p> </p><p>She sighed, dragging a hand down her face. “I interrupted your reading again, didn’t I.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes. But you brought me ale, so you’re forgiven this time.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Backpack Parr</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Absolutely not.”</p><p> </p><p>“Catherine, I’m tired,” Parr whined, looking up at her godmother with puppy dog eyes that almost always worked on the paladin.</p><p> </p><p>Almost.</p><p> </p><p>“I need to have my armor on, and you know very well you could get hurt trying to ride piggy back while I’m wearing it.” Aragon said, exasperated. “So no. Go ask someone else.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Parr went to Kat first. Somehow she ended up giving Kat a piggyback ride instead. “How did this happen again?” Parr asked through heaving gasps for air as she carried the taller woman.</p><p> </p><p>Kat just laughed. “You made the mistake of asking a bard to do something for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr huffed in annoyance, but honestly, when Kat had said she could try feeling comfortable touching Parr if Kat was the one getting the piggyback ride…</p><p> </p><p>Parr couldn’t argue with that logic.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>She tried Jane next.</p><p> </p><p>“No.”</p><p> </p><p>Well, at least she tried.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>She went to Cleves. Cleves arched a brow at her. “You see this axe?” she said, heaving it up into Parr’s view. It was a beautiful axe, with silvery blue magic embedded in the metal, and sturdy wood covered in carefully set runes. “It’s very heavy. I need two hands to use it.” She let the head of the axe fall to the ground with a thump and leaned on it. “And I am always ready. Alert. You hanging onto me like a backpack would not go well.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr groaned and fell to the ground in a rare show of dramatics. “I just want a piggy back ride! I’ve asked everyone!”</p><p> </p><p>Because she was on the ground staring at the sky, she missed the mischievous twinkle in Cleves’ eye as the barbarian grinned. “Have you asked Anne?”</p><p> </p><p>Parr frowned. “She’ll just say no.”</p><p> </p><p>“So you haven’t asked her.”</p><p> </p><p>“No.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves heaved her axe onto her shoulder and walked away, calling back, “Ask Anne.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr blew a lock of hair out of her eye in a huff of frustration.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>“Anne?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked up from where she was reattaching the pink cloth she wore on her leg. “What’s up, Parr?”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t be weird about this.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m weird about everything.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know.”</p><p> </p><p>“What’s up?” Anne actually sounded concerned.</p><p> </p><p>Parr threw up her hands. “Will you please give me a piggy back ride?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure.”</p><p> </p><p>“Because I’ve asked everyone else and no one will give me one, and I know you’re going to say no but-” Parr paused, taking in what Anne had actually said. “Wait, what?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked like she was trying not to laugh. “I said, sure.”</p><p> </p><p>“But why?” Parr asked, once again completely confounded by the rogue.</p><p> </p><p>Anne grinned. “Because I’m curious as to why you want one so badly, and this seems like the best way to find out.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr narrowed her eyes. “That’s what you want?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep.”</p><p> </p><p>They stared at each other, Parr with her brow furrowed, Anne with that same sense of vague amusement.</p><p> </p><p>“I get bored,” Parr said finally.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean?” And Anne genuinely seemed to be curious. Not judging, just curious.</p><p> </p><p>This gave Parr the confidence to press on. “I can’t read and walk at the same time, and just walking is boring. But when I can get a piggy back ride-”</p><p> </p><p>“-You can read while we travel,” Anne finished, thoughtful. “Yeah, okay. Pick your book and up you get.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr blinked. “Really?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne grinned, that fond, teasing grin that she only really seemed to aim at Parr. “Yes, really. What good is a wizard without her books, after all?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re lucky I happen to love these books, or I would be throwing them at your head.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll ask Aragon how to thank the Dawnfather later.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This story was originally conceived as an idea for a comic, so the queens as I imagined them are on this Instagram. However, this link will take you directly to a post of Anne carrying Parr!<br/>https://www.instagram.com/p/CGGoihUH1Lg/<br/>-Grey</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Edelweiss</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cleves had been avoiding Kat since they first saw each other in the forest and Kat was tired of it.</p><p> </p><p>In the past few days, she had tried to approach the Zemnian, but each time, Cleves found something to do something else that needed her immediate attention.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Cleves-”</p><p> </p><p>“SCHNITZEL, get away from there.”</p><p> </p><p>“Cleves-”</p><p> </p><p>“Anne, PUT my axe DOWN!”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This had been going on for far too long.</p><p> </p><p>So when Aragon asked who wanted to take watch, and Cleves volunteered, Kat immediately jumped in before Jane could say anything. “I’ll take it with her.”</p><p> </p><p>She tried to ignore the stab of hurt she felt when Cleves flinched.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>“So…” Kat began.</p><p> </p><p>“We don’t need to talk, pup,” Cleves muttered, carefully sharpening her axe, studying the blade to keep her gaze diverted from the bard.</p><p> </p><p>Kat shifted uncomfortably, wringing her hands in her lap. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked in a rush. The scraping of steel screeched to a halt.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves exhaled sharply before answering. “No, Kat, you didn’t.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why are you avoiding me?”</p><p> </p><p>There was a pause before Cleves slowly lowered the axe with a defeated sigh. “I am embarrassed,” Cleves muttered.</p><p> </p><p>Kat’s head snapped to stare at the barbarian, who was clenchign and unclenching her fists, unwilling to meet the bard’s eyes. This was not the confident, don’t-give-a-fuck barbarian she had come to know. “Why?” Kat asked, cocking her head.</p><p> </p><p>“You saw me in a moment that I am not very proud of.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat’s expression clouded as she wracked her memory. Then it cleared as she realized what Cleves was referring to. “You mean your presentation to the king?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves winced. “The ways of being a proper lady have eluded me my entire life.” She picked up the axe at her side to stare at her warped reflection in the blade. “I remember people,” she curled into herself a little more as the memories come back to her “you,” she added softly and Kat’s eyes widened in understanding, “everyone, laughing at me.” She sighed and put down her axe. “I was not born to be a noble.”</p><p> </p><p>“Me neither,” Kat said, smiling slightly as she saw Cleves sneak a peek at her. “I was a lady in waiting because of dumb luck, and I don’t even know if I’d call it <em>good</em> luck. But your time in the palace was the only real bright spot of my time in court.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves was staring at her now, disbelieving. “But…why?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat grinned at the memory. “You put everyone in their place. You spoke your mind. You startled Henry into such a state, that you got away with it, and had him begging for you to leave because he didn’t know what to do with your strength.” She gently poked Cleves’ bicep. “And I don’t mean these.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves stared at Kat, now not with disbelief, but more something akin to awe. “But…you laughed?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh Cleves, of course I laughed, but never at you! I saw the king’s face, and it was genuinely the funniest thing I’d ever seen! You put the fear of the gods into that man, the King of the Dwendalian Empire, just by standing up to him when no one else would!”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves began to smile and actually laughed at the once painful memory, and Kat joined in, laughing at the thought of the stony-faced giant of a king cowed so quickly by a just-shy-of 5 feet tall maiden, glaring up at him with the fury of all the wives who had come before her, cursing him out in Zemnian.</p><p> </p><p>They finally calmed and settled into a comfortable silence. The fire crackled before them, lighting Cleves’ face, lost in thought.</p><p> </p><p>"I’m sorry for avoiding you,” she said at last. “I just don’t know what to do if I’m not putting on this…” she trailed off, realizing she didn’t know the word in Common.</p><p> </p><p>“Façade?” Kat offered, and Cleves’ face went slack with relief at being understood.</p><p> </p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I don’t think it’s all a façade,” Kat said, “But it’s okay to let your guard sometimes, you know?” She reached a hand up to touch her choker out of instinct.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves saw the movement and held out a hand. Kat hesitated, before slipping her hand into Cleves'. She felt the rough callouses on the barbarian’s skin from years of swinging an axe, that seemed to fit just right against her own callouses from the years of playing every instrument she could imagine.</p><p> </p><p>It was grounding. Comforting.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” Cleves mused, “I think I am beginning to understand that.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat squeezed her hand. “I am too. We’ll figure it out, I think.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves grinned. “But honestly, you try coming to what was once a whole different country, using a language you’re not very familiar with, to marry a man you’ve never met.” She meant it as a joke, but saw Kat frown as though struggling to remember something.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Will you teach me?</em>” she asked, in halting, but perfect Zemnian</p><p> </p><p>Cleves lit up immediately. “<em>You speak Zemnian?</em>”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Very little.</em>” Kat said sheepishly, struggling for the words.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves’ eyes zipped around as if begging the earth for ideas and her eyes settled on Kat’s lute. “You like music, <em>ja Fräulein</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat laughed. “You know I do.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves grinned as an idea began to form. “My sister, Amalia, taught me some songs. This one is my favorite. Perhaps you can learn easier through music.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat grinned right back, excited. “Perfect.”</p><p> </p><p>It was the first time Kat ever heard the barbarian sing. She had a beautiful voice, a clear alto, and surprisingly gentle for such a powerful warrior. She listened attentively to the words, singing them back to Cleves as the sun continued to rise, long after they should have woken the others for their turn taking watch.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Edelweiß, Edelweiß,</em></p><p><em>Du grüßt mich jeden Morgen…</em>”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fun fact! </p><p>Edelweiss is a song that was written specifically for The Sound of Music, and actually isn't well known in Austria at all! But there's this gorgeous German translation that fits Cleves the way I've written her here, and her blooming (pardon the pun) relationship with Kat. </p><p>Here's the article where I found the translation used for this story: https://www.thoughtco.com/learn-the-german-lyrics-for-edelweiss-4075523</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Trust Fall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anne had been in a great deal of dangerous situations; in fact, it often felt like she could take on any threat, having survived so many in the past.</p><p> </p><p>But nothing had prepared her for the fear of Pelor that Catherine Parr put in her when she was good and truly angry.</p><p> </p><p>They were running from the law, as per usual. Between the warrant outs for Kat and now Parr and Aragon’s arrests, having to keep Jane hidden from anyone who could recognize her for reasons she wasn’t ready to talk about yet, and Anne’s own penchant for trouble, they were always hiding and running from something it seemed.</p><p> </p><p>This time it was the warrants that got them into trouble, and they had split off in the pairs they had agreed on in advance: One spellcaster per non-magic user, in pairs that were less looked for. Parr and Aragon were often reported as being seen together, as were Kat and Anne. It was easier this way to blend in and hide until they could unite again as a party.</p><p> </p><p>Not knowing where they were going, and with Parr nearly out of magic, Anne and Parr found themselves cornered up against the edge of a cliff. They backed up slowly, Parr keeping a careful eye on the guards, as Anne looked behind them at the churning sea below. “Ideas?” Parr asked frantically, keeping a glowing hand outstretched in front of her.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but you’re not going to like it.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr choked out a laugh at that. “Will we live?” she asked, voice desperate.</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked out again, down over the cliff, and took quick inventory. She turned back to the wizard and wrapped an arm around her front. Parr’s eyes never left the guards, and to Anne’s surprise, she didn’t stiffen at the contact. “Trust me?” Anne whispered, staring at Parr’s profile.</p><p> </p><p>Parr didn’t look at her, but nodded.</p><p> </p><p>Anne wrapped her other arm around the wizard and sent them catapulting backwards, off the cliff’s edge, into the churning sea below.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>And that was why Anne was faced with an angry Parr.</p><p> </p><p>The wizard was wringing her hair out and had been hurling insults in the rogue’s direction for the past ten minutes.</p><p> </p><p>Anne was growing rather tired of it, and began to retaliate.</p><p> </p><p>“Impulsive-”</p><p> </p><p>“Ungrateful-”</p><p> </p><p>“Childish-”</p><p> </p><p>“Nagging-”</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t <em>think</em> before you jump-”</p><p> </p><p>“I <em>did</em> think, and we lived, didn’t we? But while we’re at it, you think too <em>much</em>-”</p><p> </p><p>They were walking down a path now, yelling at each other, and Anne finally shouted “And you’re so LAZY!”</p><p> </p><p>Parr stared at her as though she had grown a second head. “<em>ME</em>? Lazy?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, <em>you</em>,” Anne snapped, leaning over to wring her own hair out. “You always make me carry you<em> everywhere</em>. I agreed to the ONE time, but<em> Kord’s beard</em>, give someone else a turn! Cleves is RIGHT there, and she is literally ALL muscle, so why do <em>I,</em>” she pointed at herself, advancing and getting in Parr’s space, the wizard standing her ground and glaring up at the rogue, “always end up carrying you on my back like a damn koala?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah yes, because you <em>totally</em> don’t get anything out of it.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Parr. “Well, someone certainly thinks a lot of herself.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr flushed. “That is <em>not</em> what I meant.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne threw up her hands. “Then what <em>did</em> you mean?”</p><p> </p><p>They breathed heavily, glaring at each other, still recovering from nearly drowning.</p><p> </p><p>Parr broke the silence first. “I know you like to read.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Anne frowned. Parr smirked.</p><p> </p><p>“You like reading. I know when I’m reading while you carry me, <em>you</em> read <em>my</em> book while you walk.”</p><p> </p><p>“I do not.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr studied Anne’s stony face and sighed.</p><p> </p><p>The rogue had, in the end, gotten them away and safe.</p><p> </p><p>She reached up a gentle hand and laid it on her shoulder. Almost as if against her will, Anne leaned into the touch. “Yeah, you do, Anne. And for the record?” She gave her shoulder a slight squeeze.</p><p> </p><p>“I wait until you’re done reading the page to turn it.”</p><p> </p><p>She stepped away and continued down the path, missing Anne turning to look after her with that same, increasingly familiar fond smile playing at her lips.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Understanding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aragon sat at the fire, wincing as a bruise that hadn’t quite healed twisted the wrong way, raising a hand to her sore ribs. She saw Jane approaching to join her for watch, and quickly schooled her face into something more composed.</p><p> </p><p>“You look tired,” Jane said, handing a mug of tea to the paladin, before sitting next to her in front of the fire.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon took the mug with a smile. “You’re one to talk,” she said. “Usually I have to badger Cathy about sleep. I never thought I’d have to remind you.” She gently bumped the former queen’s shoulder. “You’re exhausted, Jane.” She could see the dark circles under the blonde’s eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Jane brushed off her concern. “I’ve never spent this much time outdoors,” she replied. “I’m not used to it.”</p><p> </p><p>She tried moved Aragon’s hand away from where she was trying to cover her injury. “Catherine,” Jane pleaded when Aragon resisted. They glared at each other, before Aragon softened and lowered her hand, allowing the healer to murmur a quiet incantation and heal the bruised bone.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon looked at her thoughtfully as she worked before continuing cautiously. “So the name ‘Edward’ means nothing to you then?”</p><p> </p><p>Jane flinched and pulled away picking up her own mug of tea. “No, of course not.”</p><p> </p><p>“Jane.” Something in the paladin’s voice made Jane look up at her. She found only quiet understanding.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Understanding that she didn’t deserve.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay to talk about it.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane had always felt incredibly comfortable around Catherine of Aragon. Comfortable in a way she never had in her time with her family, or anyone else for that matter. Though she could only be so close to the Queen, she had always felt the care that Aragon had for all those around her. And when Jane had become queen herself, she had learned how lonely it was, and how hard that must have been for her predecessor. It was comforting that Aragon continued to care so much, even through her trials at court.</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps that care and understanding was why she felt she could even begin to say what she actually wanted to. “I suppose you heard that I… lost my son.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon hummed sympathetically. “I was in the palace when the news broke. I’m so sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane couldn’t do it. She couldn’t talk about this, not now.</p><p> </p><p>She did what she did best, and deflected. “What I endured is nothing compared to you, Catherine. I wish I could have done more to help you when you were Queen.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon gave her a look that said she saw what she was doing, but went along with it. “You couldn’t have done anything. Just as I couldn’t help you, though I wish I’d warned you about Henry before you married him.” She glanced at the blonde, trying one more time. “And…I lost children too.” Jane looked uncomfortable, so Aragon quickly backed off. “But, I did at least have my Mary.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane did smile at that. “She was such a bright girl,” she said softly. “She had such a strange way of looking at things, but somehow, she always made her strange thoughts make sense. And she was a natural born leader.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon sighed. “I know. And I hope Henry doesn’t drum the light out of her. He’s a cruel, twisted man. Not what I expected at all when he rescued me from prison.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane’s head snapped up. “Prison?” She had never heard about this, in all her years as lady in waiting.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon smiled. “Yes. After Arthur died. Henry’s older brother.” Jane stared at her in shock. Aragon continued, lost in her memories “He was a good man. With a good heart. You arrived at court after his death, you never met him.” She looked down into her tea. “I still miss him sometimes. He would have known what to do about Mary.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane’s brow furrowed. “…what to do about her?”</p><p> </p><p>“She was… I didn’t understand her.” Jane looked stricken with guilt, and Aragon rushed to reassure her. “I think you understood her better than I did, and I’m grateful for that.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon looked down into her mug. “Henry used that lack of understanding against me. Turned her against me.” A stray tear fell into her mug. “Until my little girl wanted nothing to do with me. But that was <em>not</em> your fault,” she said firmly.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon turned her face to the setting sun, closing her eyes as if remembering something painful. “I dream about her sometimes. I hope what I see is not true.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane looped a tentative arm through Aragon’s. “I dream of Edward too. I think of who he could have been.” She leaned slightly on the paladin, who leaned back. “But Mary… she held tight to what you taught her. Everything I know about the Dawnfather that I didn’t learn from you, I learned from her.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon placed her hand over Jane’s, keeping her eyes closed as if in silent prayer. “I hope she can find comfort in Pelor’s light.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Far away, in a dark castle, screams break to the surface from a dungeon as a young woman climbs the steps up from a darkened corridor below. She shuts the door behind her, muffling the screams, allowing herself a single breathy sob, before straightening and taking a steadying breath.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Then her face contorts into a snarl as she rips a chain from her neck and smashes it onto the stone floor. It skids away with a clatter, a locket cracking open to reveal the portrait of the woman with brown and golden hair tucked behind a queen’s crown, barely recognizable under the shattered clear glass.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Only in Sleep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aragon watched as Kat stumbled to the blanket spread on the ground where she had prepared coffee and tea. Cathy, half asleep herself, wordlessly handed over a mug, before going back to nursing her own.</p><p> </p><p>A bored Anne, the only one besides Aragon who could call herself any level of awake, was reading one of Parr’s many books, not looking up from her current tome, but handing a yawning Jane a hot mug of tea. “Parr heated it up,” Anne said, and Jane hummed her thanks.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves' sleeping form hadn’t moved from where she had collapsed a few hours before. Weiner licked Cleves’ unresponsive face before directing a pleading look at Aragon.</p><p> </p><p>It was the poor dog’s desperate look that did it.</p><p> </p><p>“THAT’S <em>IT</em>,” Aragon roared, getting to her feet and stalking over to the sleeping barbarian, picking up her unresponsive body, and tossing her over her shoulder. “Grab your shit and let’s go,” she snapped at the party before grabbing her pack (well, Parr’s giant sack of books), and striding away. The other four members of the party stared at the paladin’s retreating form in shocked silence.</p><p> </p><p>“Did Aragon just curse?” Anne whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“I think she did,” Parr said in awe.</p><p> </p><p>Jane, now fully awake, pulled a still half-asleep Kat to her feet. “We’d better go,” she said, her eyes trained on the limp form of Cleves, still completely asleep. She looked almost small in the tall paladin’s grasp. “I think I know what this is about.” The other three looked at her and she shook her head, unwilling to explain everything. “If I’m right…she’s worried.”</p><p> </p><p>She glanced again at Cleves, who once upon a time had jumped awake at the slightest sound. “And honestly, I think she’s right to be.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Aragon led them to an inn in town, bursting through the door and slamming 5 gold onto the desk. “We need one room,” she said to the innkeeper. “Biggest one you’ve got.”</p><p> </p><p>The innkeeper startled at the noise and started to protest before seeing the amount of gold stacked on the table. “Ah, yes of course. We’ll have it ready for you by sunset-”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon placed another 5 gold on the desk. “You’ve got 10 minutes,” she said with a quiet warning in her voice, every inch the queen she had once been. The man immediately nodded and scurried off.</p><p> </p><p>She turned back to face the women gaping at her. “Close your mouths, you’ll catch flies,” she snapped. Cleves gave a start, murmuring something about her axe. Aragon instantly softened and patted the warrior’s back. “We’ve got your axe,” she said quietly. “Go back to sleep.” Cleves settled against Aragon’s back, out like a light once more.</p><p> </p><p>“Catherine?” Jane prompted, glancing at the confused girls beside her. “Perhaps an explanation?”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon saw the knowing look in Jane’s eyes and knew the spellcaster understood what was happening. “Everyone is aware,” Aragon began, “that humans need at least 6 hours of sleep a night, correct?”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy frowned. “That can’t be right.” She winced as her godmother glared at her. “Okay, maybe that’s right.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat crossed her arms. “We get 6 hours of sleep,” she said defensively. “8 hours rest, composed of 2 hours watch, 6 hours sleep.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, we don’t. You,” she said, pointing at Cathy “Get two, maybe three hours, spend the rest reading, and then survive on coffee until you crash and Anne has to carry you until you recover.”</p><p> </p><p>“She does have a point,” Anne said. “OW!” she yelped as Parr delivered a sharp elbow to her ribs.</p><p> </p><p>“You-” Aragon said gesturing towards Anne, “Well, Pelor only knows where you get off to, and honestly,” Aragon cut off Anne’s indignant interjection, “I don’t want to know. I really, really don’t.” Anne closed her mouth and settled for glaring at the paladin.</p><p> </p><p>“You and Cleves,” Aragon said, softening her voice to address Kat. She couldn’t yell at Kat. It would be <em>criminal</em> to yell at Kat. “We’re lucky if you two get any sleep at all.” She patted Cleves’ back. “Look at this! And all because you forget to wake us up for watch!” Kat blushed as Aragon continued, “If you’re that distracted by whatever you’re doing, you can’t be keeping that well of a watch, can you?” Kat didn’t respond and just curled her arms tighter around herself.</p><p> </p><p>“And me?” Jane said softly, directing Aragon’s gaze away from Kat.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon shrugged and Cleves grunted slightly at the movement. “Same as me,” she said quietly. “Nightmares.” Jane’s eyes hardened but she nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“So your solution is…?” Anne asked, sounding bored.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon finally broke into a grin. A feral grin that made Anne want to go running for the hills. “Time for a <em>sleepover</em>, Boleyn,” Aragon said, watching as Anne’s eyes went wide in horror, laughing as Cathy and Kat grabbed her arms to keep the rogue from bolting.</p><p> </p><p>“Your room is ready,” the innkeeper said meekly from behind Aragon.</p><p> </p><p>“Perfect!” the paladin exclaimed, grabbing the bag of books and heading off, not even bothering to check if the rest were following. She knew they were.</p><p> </p><p>And she knew that Jane would bring up the rear to keep Anne from escaping.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Cleves spent most of the day and night sleeping, only occasionally waking long enough for Jane or Kat to give her food and water, before passing out again. The two exchanged worried glances. They knew Cleves hadn’t been sleeping well, but this was a little extreme, even for her.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Anne was NOT enjoying herself.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon would sometimes have little “sleepovers” while she was queen. It was a time of sharing each other's company, energy, and stories.</p><p> </p><p>But most of all, it was about sharing secrets. And Anne didn’t do that. Parr kept trying to get her to talk, but they all watched as Anne did what Kat usually did, curling her knees to her chest and refusing to look at anyone, much less speak.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon began to feel a little bad, but at the end of the day, sitting on the bed with Cleves curled up under one arm, her hounds draped across their master’s sleeping form, Jane leaning into her other side with Kat’s head nestled in the blonde’s lap, all fast asleep, with no signs of nightmares, she couldn’t help but feel satisfied with her insistence on a sleepover, if only for the actual sleep they were getting.</p><p> </p><p>She looked across the room, where Cathy and Anne sat propped up against the wall, on the floor. Cathy, to Aragon’s surprise, had been the one to sit next to the rogue and just begin talking in a low whisper. Aragon heard pieces of it. Bits of truth of Cathy’s past, her schooldays at the Solstryce Academy, a time that she knew had been difficult for her goddaughter, to say the least. Perhaps even things that she hadn’t confided even to Aragon. She heard fire mentioned, and watched as Anne took Cathy’s hand without a word, and let the wizard lean her head on her shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>That was how the pair had fallen asleep, hands clasped, leaning on each other. Aragon wasn’t sure how she felt about what she’d seen building between the two for months, but it was clear that Cathy cared deeply for Anne, even if her goddaughter didn’t understand how much yet. Cathy might be a genius, Aragon thought wryly, but it would take a bull ramming into her with the information for her to realize her growing feelings for Boleyn.</p><p> </p><p>Anne on the other hand… Anne had changed a great deal from the determined, and slightly devious girl who had acted as her lady in waiting. In watching her carefully while traveling together, Aragon had seen Anne flirt with many people. But she saw that it meant nothing to the girl. None of the interactions amounted to anything, and were generally a distraction to pick a pocket or to gain information.</p><p> </p><p>The way she acted with Cathy was different. The way she carried the wizard on her back, the gentle teasing, the discussions they would have about books, with Anne listening attentively to Cathy’s ramblings, occasionally interjecting with a question or an observation. It was completely different than the constant, meaningless flirting with strangers, and nothing like how Anne had ever interacted with Henry.</p><p> </p><p>With Henry, Aragon had always described Anne’s flirtations as a game. A dangerous game, but a game nonetheless. But now, she saw that it was not a game, but a matter of survival. Anne was trying to find a way out, away from Henry’s attention. Now that she saw what it looked like when Anne <em>did</em> care, Aragon saw that she herself had received more honest affection from the girl than Henry ever had.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon had spent so much time blaming Anne for what had happened between her and Henry. And in the end, between her and…</p><p> </p><p>No. <em>That</em> was her and Henry’s fault, and theirs alone.</p><p> </p><p>Anne Boleyn had, in their travels, proven herself to be every bit as selfless as Aragon, especially when it came to her cousin or Cathy. She had changed a great deal, and it was clear that her understanding of the girl, even when she thought she did know her, had been flawed, to say the least. This girl...this woman. She did care, so much, more than she probably liked to admit.</p><p> </p><p>She watched as Anne shifted in her sleep, pulling her hand from Cathy’s and wrapping it around her shoulders, allowing the smaller woman to settle more comfortably. Her green eyes opened slightly and caught Aragon watching her. Anne stared back at the paladin, looking almost nervous, but didn’t move, waiting for Aragon to respond.</p><p> </p><p>After a tense moment, Aragon simply nodded at the rogue. Anne, visibly relieved, nodded back and settled back into sleep as quickly as she had come awake.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon felt her own eyelids begin to grow heavy, and she pulled the two people tucked under her arms closer, feeling Schnitzel’s tail wag, thumping against her leg.</p><p> </p><p>With a content smile, knowing her new family was safe, Catherine of Aragon surrendered to a night of uninterrupted sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. The Beast Within, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Six, as they were now calling themselves-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“What about Weiner and Schnitzel?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“And Mae!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“And my Kazoo!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“For simplicity’s sake, please, just the humans of the party, before Anne says that her sword should be counted as well.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“My Sixth Finger is just as important as the hounds, thank you very much, Jane.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>-after many adventures had learned that together, there weren’t many obstacles they couldn’t overcome.</p><p> </p><p>But five of them were extremely worried about Cleves.</p><p> </p><p>Anne noticed a familiar raven peeking at her from a branch and immediately went to speak to Jane.</p><p> </p><p>A few days later, Jane finally approached the sagging form of Cleves.</p><p> </p><p>“Cleves,” she said in her low, quiet voice. “Are you alright?”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves mustered up her best smile. “I’m fine, Jane.”</p><p> </p><p>“You look like you got punched in both eyes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Got in a fight with Anne.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane quirked a brow at the barbarian. “And can I talk to Anne to confirm that?” Cleves remained silent and Jane rested a hand on her shoulder, sending a small wave of healing energy into her. “You’re not sleeping.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sleep is overrated.”</p><p> </p><p>“We all have nightmares.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves gently took the blonde’s hand and squeezed it, giving her a sad smile. “I’ll take watch,” was all she said, before walking away. Jane watched helplessly and turned to see Kat watching from a distance, a troubled look in her eye.</p><p> </p><p>Jane waved her over and gave her a small hug. “You okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat’s eyes didn’t leave Cleves’ stumbling form. “I’ll take watch with her,” she said in lieu of a response. Jane squeezed her shoulder and went to go help Anne and Aragon make the night’s fire.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Anne jerked awake, disoriented from having slept as long as she had. She frowned, trying to collect herself, then smacked the arm of the wizard lying next to her.</p><p> </p><p>Parr bolted upright, eyes sparking blue, hands already aflame. Upon realizing there was no immediate threat, she let the flame sputter out and punched Anne in the arm, hard. “What the hell, Anne?” she snapped.</p><p> </p><p>“Why didn’t you wake me up for watch?” Anne demanded. “It’s morning.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr saw the sun, high in the sky, and looked back at the rogue, fear setting in. “Anne, I never took watch.” She looked around, quickly trying to take stock of their surroundings. “Where’s Cleves and-”</p><p> </p><p>“KAT-” Anne was already up and running towards the dying fire, yelling for her cousin.</p><p> </p><p>They reached the fire where Kat sat, curled up with Weiner and Schnitzel, hair out of its usual ponytail, cascading over both shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you alright?” Anne asked, brushing Kat’s hair out of her face, scanning her for any injuries. Kat didn’t respond.</p><p> </p><p>Parr knelt down next to the bard, who sat staring at the smoldering remains of the fire. “Kat, where is Cleves?” Parr asked gently.</p><p> </p><p>Kat didn’t look at her. “She left.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The Beast Within, Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong> <em>*the night before, midway through Cleves and Kat’s watch*</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Their usual comfortable silence felt distinctly uncomfortable tonight. Cleves didn’t know how to breach the subject.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” Cleves head snapped to look at Kat, who was staring back at her with an unreadable expression that looked more like it belonged on Anne’s face than the party’s cheerful bard’s.</p><p> </p><p>“I-”</p><p> </p><p>Their eyes locked, and Cleves felt her heart clench. Cleves held her hand out for Kat’s. Kat hesitated, before taking it.</p><p> </p><p>“I have to.”</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t.”</p><p> </p><p>“I <em>do</em>, Kat. I’ve been running from…something that I can’t run from anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then let us <em>help</em> you!”</p><p> </p><p>“No. Not with this. I’m sorry.” Cleves stood up, and tried to pull away, but was stopped in her tracks.</p><p> </p><p>Kat didn’t let go of her hand. Cleves paused, tears pricking at her eyes, feeling the woman’s hand gripping hers like a lifeline. They stayed like that, frozen, for what seemed like an eternity before Kat broke the fragile silence with a whisper.</p><p> </p><p>“Stay. Please.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves closed her eyes and felt a single tear run down her cheek. She couldn’t remember the last time she had cried. She took a deep breath and gently pulled her hand away, turning back in time to watch as Kat folded into a familiar position, gripping her knees to her chest, looking at the ground. It tore at Cleves’ heart to see Kat looking like this was what she expected, watching her face as the bard berated herself for daring to hope.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves called her hounds over to her, and spoke in Zemnian. “<em>Look after them for me.</em>” She glanced at Kat. “<em>Take care of her. Please.</em>” She pulled them in for a gentle forehead touch. They whined mournfully, licking her face her face, before going over to Kat, Weiner settling at her feet, and Schnitzel pushing her way into Kat’s lap.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry, Kat.” Cleves hiked her axe over her shoulder. She walked away as Kat buried her head into Schnitzel’s wiry form.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>*back to present*</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Parr roused the others from their long sleep as Anne tried to comfort her cousin, bringing them to gather around Kat to listen to what happened. Jane broke the silence. “Maybe we can catch up with her?”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon shruged helplessly. “She must have had a good reason for leaving. Right?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat stood abruptly. “She doesn’t want help. She left. The reason doesn’t matter.” She walked away from the group, sitting at the top of a nearby grassy hill, facing away from the direction Cleves left in.</p><p> </p><p>Anne started to go after her, but Aragon stopped her with a gentle hand. “Anne,” Aragon said quietly. “I know she’s your cousin, but I think I should take this one.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked like she wanted to argue but glancing up at Aragon, realized what Aragon meant. Understood the unique perspective the former queen might be able to give the broken-hearted bard.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, Catherine.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Aragon climbed the small hill and sat next to Kat. “You’re upset,” Aragon said, stating the obvious.</p><p> </p><p>Kat shrugged, playing with a piece of grass. “Everyone leaves eventually. I should be used to it at this point.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sometimes people leave to protect the people they care about.”</p><p> </p><p>“Bullshit.” Aragon reeled back, surprised at the language.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s bullshit,” Kat snarled. “If something’s wrong and you care about someone, you tell them what’s wrong, and you let <em>them</em> decide whether to stand by you or not.” She glared up at Aragon. “You don’t get to choose who cares about you. And it hurts the people you love to make that decision for them.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon had come up to try to help, but oddly, it felt like <em>she</em> was the one receiving a lesson. “What if…they don’t want your help, and you don’t know how to help them?” she asked carefully.</p><p> </p><p>Kat shrugged. “You figure it out. Family stays together. That’s how I knew Anne would help me. Every story I ever read said your family will always stand by you.” Kat wrapped her arms around her knees. “And the family you choose is just as much your family as the one you’re born into.”</p><p> </p><p>“I never thought of it that way,” Aragon said, looking into the distance. “But I guess you’re right.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat’s hard façade finally faded and tears filled her eyes. “Why do people always <em>leave</em>?” she sobbed, throwing herself into Aragon’s arms. Aragon’s eyes widened as her hands hovered over the girl who, once upon a time, lifetimes ago it seemed, she had repeatedly needed to remind herself not to touch. The girl who was now sobbing into her chest, clutching her shirt.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon’s expression softened from panic to understanding, and she wrapped Kat up in a hug. “I don’t know,<em> hijita</em>,” she said. “Sometimes, people do stupid things to protect the ones they love.” She looked in the direction she knew Rexxentrum stood, many miles away. “Even if it isn’t the right thing to do.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. The Beast Within, Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Six…well the five that remained had taken the day to rest. After a fitful night’s sleep, they roused, and began making their gloomy way along the road.</p><p> </p><p>Kat kept her eyes on the road in front of her, focusing on taking one step at a time. One foot in front of the other. She glanced up for a moment and her eyes widened in shock as she spotted a familiar form stumbling across the field.</p><p> </p><p>Stumbling and covered in more crimson red than she ever had been before.</p><p> </p><p>Not even stopping to think, Kat took off in a dead sprint toward the figure, screaming as the woman took one last step before toppling to the ground.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>ANNA!</em>” Kat screamed, sliding to her knees to reach the barbarian’s battered body. Gashes covered her from head to toe, ripping through the light armor that clung, shredded, to her skin, sticky with blood, crimson pouring from jagged wounds, soaking instantly into Kat’s clothes. Kat didn’t care. Nothing mattered but the woman gasping for air in her arms.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” she cried desperately, cradling the woman’s head in her hands.</p><p> </p><p>“Kat?” Cleves murmured, reaching a hand up to touch the girl’s tear-stained face. “I-”</p><p> </p><p>Kat screamed, a wail of gut-wrenching pain and anger as Cleves’ hand fell to the ground and her eyes rolled back in her head, going limp.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Cleves’ eyes open and she’s sitting in the Zemnian fields. There is no wind, no familiar breeze.</p><p> </p><p>Just her, alone.</p><p> </p><p>Her brow furrows and she turns around to face-</p><p> </p><p>A wolf. The tip of one ear is torn off, a gnarled, jagged scar blinding one white eye. The other glares down at her, a yellow she knows matches her own in her battle rage. She feels the prick of tears for the second time that day.</p><p> </p><p>“Ama?” she whispers reaching a hand up to touch the fur of the wolf she once called mother.</p><p> </p><p>The wolf leans her head against Cleves’, mirroring the farewell the barbarian had given her hounds the night before. “You are not supposed to be here, child. Where is your pack?”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves pulls back. “I had to leave them. I had to protect them.” She dashes her arm across her eyes to wipe away her tears.</p><p> </p><p>“No," the wolf says, good eye glaring with intense disapproval at Anna. “They are your pack now. You don’t protect them. They don’t protect you.” Her tail flicks to the right and Anna of Cleves lets her eyes follow the movement, where a hazy vision forms before her.</p><p> </p><p>She sees Jane holding her hands to Cleves’ battered body, trying to heal her with little success. Aragon, whose healing abilities are even more limited, tries to infuse what little magic she has left into the woman’s wounds. Both have tears streaming down their faces, but are pushing past their despair to try to help their fallen friend.</p><p> </p><p>She sees Parr, face buried in her hands, unable to help, with Anne in a similar position, one hand resting on the blue wizard’s shoulder, both kneeling by her body.</p><p> </p><p>Then she stares in amazement as Kat pushes Jane and Aragon’s hands away, replacing them with her own shaking ones, as she begins to sing a familiar song.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Edelweiß, Edelweiß…</em>”</p><p> </p><p>“You protect each other.” Ama pulls Anna’s attention back to her for just a moment, before the barbarian turns her gaze back to Kat. “That is what it is to be a pack. A family.” The wolf walks away in the periphery of Cleves’ vision as she feels herself drawn away from the familiar field and deeper into the vision. Into reality. The last whispers of her mother’s familiar rasp dance in Anna’s head in time to the tune Kat sings.</p><p> </p><p>“Trust your friends. Your strength is in each other.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“…Ach, ich hab dich so gerne.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Cleves came to with a gasp, staring into Kat’s tear-soaked face. Her eyes were closed as she finished the song she used to bring the barbarian back from death.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves managed a weak smile. “Your Zemnian is getting better,” she rasped as her wounds began to close.</p><p> </p><p>Kat’s eyes flew open and she shrieked “CLEVES!” before pulling her friend into a tight embrace. Cleves winced but reached an arm up to wrap around Kat, burying her injured face in the bard’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>Parr and Anne scrambled over as Jane and Aragon, laughing in relief, continued to heal Cleves’ battered body.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>The Six sat around a campfire. Cleves had slept all day but was still battered, her clothing torn to shreds. Weiner sat, resting her head carefully on Cleves’ bandaged leg. Schnitzel was curled up next to Kat. “I think he likes you more than me,” she joked. Kat gave her a small smile, before going back to petting Schnitzel.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon cleared her throat. “Cleves, what <em>happened</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves closed her eyes and remembered Ama’s words. <em>Your strength is in each other.</em></p><p> </p><p>“I am being hunted,” she said finally. “I was kidnapped as a baby and left in the fields of Xorhas. I was found and raised by a pack of wolves.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr broke in. “Wolves? That’s not possible.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves snorted and looked at the wizard askance. “You make blue fire shoot from your hands, Kat pulls sound from thin air and brings back the dead, but me being raised by wolves is impossible?”</p><p> </p><p>“Touché.”</p><p> </p><p>“I was found when I was five by a group of hunters. They-” she grit her teeth. “…<em>‘rescued’</em> me. Most of the pack got away. The leader- my Ama- she wouldn’t leave me. She was killed.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Cleves,” Jane murmured sympathetically, and Cleves heard the sadness she felt but could not describe herself.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes. The next few years were difficult. I was terrible at being a noblewoman and kept running away. And then I realized that I was being hunted.”</p><p> </p><p>“I tried to warn my parents. So many times. But they wouldn’t listen. They sent me to be married to the King of the Empire.” She clenched her fists in her tattered skirt. “I was on my way out of the city after the King rejected me when I received word that everyone in my <em>Haus</em>, my parents and sisters, were dead, slaughtered by some beast.” Everyone gasped. Cleves clenched her fists tighter. “So I’ve been running ever since.”</p><p> </p><p>There was a stunned silence as Jane put her arm around Cleves, gingerly, and held her close. “You don’t have to run anymore,” she says. Jane and Aragon locked eyes, and Aragon nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re going to find that thing, whatever it is that is hunting you, and we are going to kill it.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. The Beast Within, Part 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a hard fight. A ferocious fight.</p><p> </p><p>But strangely the ferocity of the monster that had haunted her since childhood, that had slaughtered her family…</p><p> </p><p>It was nothing in the face of the ferocity with which her friends defended her.</p><p> </p><p>She and Aragon worked together to do serious damage with their blades, with Anne striking key points from the shadows. Parr used magic that none of them had ever seen, transporting the monster back and forth through time, as she would later try to explain to the astonished party.</p><p> </p><p>Jane cast a spell unlike anything they had seen from her as well. The crackling lightning, instead of striking and electrocuting the beast, wrapped around it in tendrils of blue energy, draining it and seemingly giving the spellcaster greater life. When asked about this new ability, she shrugged. “The Stormlord works in mysterious ways,” was her only answer.</p><p> </p><p>But Kat? Cleves thought she had seen the scariest Kat could be when she murdered a man onstage with nothing but the power of her voice.</p><p> </p><p>But then she watched Kat command the room, stared as everyone paused, even the monstrosity, and she sang, approaching it step after step in time with the music.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>When we start killing</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It all will be falling down</em>
</p><p>
  <em>From the hell that we're in</em>
</p><p>
  <em>All we are is fading away</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When we start killing</em>
</p><p> </p><p>With that last note she touched its fur, its red eyes burning with hatred as it stood, unable to move.</p><p> </p><p>It was incredible.</p><p> </p><p>“Cleves,” she had said, so gently that it took a moment to register, before the barbarian shook herself out of her reverie and walked over to stand next to her. Kat glanced at her, her hand still held up to the beast. “It’s all yours,” she said.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves stared it in the eyes, seeing the hatred, the anger in the burning red orbs.</p><p> </p><p>It was like looking in a mirror.</p><p> </p><p>In a flash, she understood. Her own rage subsided, but the yellow of her eyes did not fade as she fell to her knees before the monstrosity.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>You are my rage</em>,” she whispered in Zemnian. The monstrosity, once a vague, black shifting form, began to take a more solid shape as she spoke. “<em>You are what scares me about myself, about my past</em>,” The form was distinctly canine now, it’s red eyes slowly dimming. “<em>I am who I am. You are a part of me, just as my human sisters and their songs are a part of me, and this family I have made here is a part of me.</em>” She reached out a steady hand and touched the fur, fur that felt just as soft as Ama’s, in what seemed like another lifetime.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Come home,</em>” Cleves whispered, and the red eyes faded to a familiar yellow, the form fading to a yellow mist, before filling Cleves, leaving her feeling whole, in a way she hadn’t since she was five years old.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves looked up at her surprised friends, tears in her golden eyes. “Thank you,” she choked out, laughing as Kat threw her arms around her neck, and as the others piled on top of her.</p><p> </p><p>It was over.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>“No leaving, got it, Cleves?” Anne had joked, half-serious, punching the barbarian’s shoulder. Cleves laughed a little nervously, but nodded, and Anne went off to join the others to sleep before her watch.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves sat next to Kat on the ground beside the fire. “Hi,” she said quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Kat looked over at her, and gave a small smile. “Hi.”</p><p> </p><p>They sat awkwardly for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“So…” Cleves said, “You saved my life. Or brought me back to life. I’m not really sure what happened.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat smiled. “Yeah, I guess I did.” She frowned. “I have no idea how I did it, though.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves remained serious. “I’m sorry. For leaving. I thought I was doing the right thing.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat’s face turned somber. “I know.”</p><p> </p><p>“I was wrong.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not leaving again.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat studied her then smiled. “That’s all I ask.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves cocks her head, remembering something from before she passed out in the field. “You called me Anna before.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat stiffened. “I’m sorry! I know you didn’t want anyone to know, but I saw you, like, dying and panicked and-”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves grinned and cut her off. “It’s okay! I liked it.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat stopped rambling and matched her wide grin. “Yeah?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. No one else gets to call me that though, got it?”</p><p> </p><p>“HA! I’m<em> special</em>,” Kat said, pumping a fist in the air with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p><em>Yes</em>, Cleves thought, watching her antics fondly, <em>you really are</em>.</p><p> </p><p>They spent the rest of their watch in a comfortable silence, leaning against each other, the hounds snoring at their feet.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Used: The Howling by Within Temptation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV09ta-pbZk)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Bag of Holding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Bag of Holding: what seems like an ordinary bag on the outside, but can hold more than it appears to be able to, used to ease transportation of items </p><p>Bag of Colding: Same thing but it keeps them cold</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“No.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr stared at her godmother in shock. “No?”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon sighed. “Cathy, I can’t carry anymore books. It’s not realistic. They’re heavy.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr looked like she might cry, and Aragon panicked. “Well… wait,” she said reaching for her goddaughter, watching helplessly as Cathy walked away quickly, hiding her face. “Shit,” she muttered.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy didn’t ask for much. She didn’t care about clothes and mended her own. She ate simple foods, and didn’t care where they stayed the night.</p><p> </p><p>But the needs of a wizard were expensive and surprisingly heavy. The paper alone would have been enough, and Aragon didn’t even know where it all <em>went</em>.</p><p> </p><p>But then there were the books.</p><p> </p><p>Everywhere they went, Cathy insisted on finding bookstores, and at each store, she would buy a single book. Aragon knew that Cathy would buy the whole store if given the chance, but she always limited herself to the one book.</p><p> </p><p>There was so much of Cathy’s past that Aragon knew nothing about. She had sent her goddaughter to the Solstryce Academy when she came of age to attend, knowing Cathy had a gift, a mind geared towards the arcane.</p><p> </p><p>Then, years later, she began to hear whispers of dark and evil magics, experiments being performed on certain gifted students at the orders of the Cerberus Assembly, a collection of magic users who controlled the arcane side of things in the Empire. The more she heard, the more concerned she became, ultimately calling Cathy back to court.</p><p> </p><p>To say Cathy had changed in the years she was away was an understatement. The once joyful, bubbly, inquisitive girl who lit up every room she entered, had transformed into a quiet, brooding young woman who flinched at the sight of any flame and analyzed every person, place or thing she crossed. The haunted look in her goddaughter’s eyes when Aragon first saw her after her years at the Academy would haunt her till her dying day.</p><p> </p><p>It was the only time the paladin ever saw the scars and burns scattered across her forearms. After that first day, when she gasped in shock at the sight, Cathy kept her scars carefully hidden behind long sleeves or bracers.</p><p> </p><p>And where once there was a gentle inquisitiveness, Cathy had developed a hunger, nearing what Aragon would call an addiction, for knowledge. She was fascinated by time and other planes of existence, poring over every tome they had in their library in the castle, sketching formulas and runes that Aragon could never hope to comprehend.</p><p> </p><p>Then Henry began to show an interest in the girl. Mary had, at this point, disowned her mother, and Aragon knew she had failed her daughter.</p><p> </p><p>She would not fail Cathy.</p><p> </p><p>The night before her ex-husband was to declare his intentions to marry Cathy, she told her goddaughter to pack light and they escaped in the dead of night.</p><p> </p><p>But that hunger for knowledge remained. It seemed like there was a purpose, and Aragon knew that Cathy did not act on whims. But she knew this was the one thing outside of their newfound family that truly mattered to her goddaughter.</p><p> </p><p>Telling her no, saying no to this one thing that Cathy <em>did</em> ask for, just because Aragon couldn’t carry more books...</p><p> </p><p>Well. She sighed, resigning herself to what she was about to do.</p><p> </p><p>“Anne? Do you remember our talk about your Bag of Colding? I need to talk to you about that offer you mentioned…”</p><p> </p><p>*******</p><p> </p><p>Cathy fell into step next to Anne, who, for once, did not seem particularly concerned with her surroundings.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne jumped, and Cathy frowned. That was way too easy. “Is everything alright?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne gave her a tight smile. “Just, you know. Rexxentrum.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy nodded. They were all nervous to return to the city they had fled from just over a year ago, but they had things to take care of in the capitol city. “I know,” she said, thinking of who she was meeting there. “I’m nervous too.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne gave her a more relaxed smile this time, closer to the one Parr was becoming more used to being on the receiving end of. The one that she couldn’t help but to smile back at.</p><p> </p><p>Parr blushed and turned her gaze back to the road. “Anyway, I think I have you to thank.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne frowned. “For what?”</p><p> </p><p>Parr glanced back where Aragon was walking next to Jane, no longer weighed down by a gigantic bag of books. Instead, a simple black Bag of Holding swung at her side.</p><p> </p><p>“I think,” she grinned, “you’re the reason my godmother won’t need to see a chiropractor in the near future.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne glanced back at Aragon, and shook her head with a laugh. “I told her you’d figure it out.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr looked at her curiously. “How did you get the money?” Anne opened her mouth to respond. “And if you say ‘I have my sources,’ I’m slapping you in the face with blue fire.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne grinned. “Gotta come up with a new excuse I see.” Her face turned serious as she pondered how to answer. “I definitely stole a lot of money,” she felt Parr stiffen beside her, and quickly took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze, “But it was from people who deserved it, I promise.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr studied her face, and found no dishonesty. She relaxed and squeezed back. “Okay,” she said, accepting the explanation, but she wasn’t done. “Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“Why what?”</p><p> </p><p>“You went to a lot of trouble just to get me a fancy bag.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne grinned. “Who said it’s for you? You said it yourself, Aragon was going to need medical help if she kept lugging that bag of books and paper everywhere.</p><p> </p><p>Parr just kept looking at her, one eyebrow raised, and Anne felt herself strangely out of her element. “Why, Anne?” Parr repeated.</p><p> </p><p>Anne sighed. “Maybe I needed new books, too?” she tried. “I was getting tired of reading the same ones carrying you.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr studied her again. Definitely lying. She released the rogue’s hand and bumped her shoulder. “Sure,” she drawled, smiling as she felt Anne relax next to her.</p><p> </p><p>“No, I-” Anne hesitated before continuing. “She said that the books mean a lot to you. Maybe more than I realized at first.” She shrugged. “You don’t really ask for a lot, Parr. It seemed like the least I could do for you, with you trying to keeping us all alive.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr smiled. Finally, some truth. She silently asked Mae to land on Anne’s shoulder, the falcon nuzzling into Anne’s face, much to the rogue’s delight.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, Anne.”</p><p> </p><p>“Anytime, Parr.”</p><p> </p><p>“Cathy.” Anne turned to her in surprise. Cathy smiled. “You steal money to get me a bottomless bag of books, you get to call me Cathy.” She frowned. “But don’t tell Catherine that’s why.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne grinned. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Cathy.”</p><p> </p><p>In her focus on the blue-clad wizard, Anne failed to notice a raven soaring overhead, cawing loudly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Ma Vie, Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I just really love these next two chapters okay. THIS was the reason I started writing this fic.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Parr watched in amusement as her godmother and Cleves gripped each other’s hands, glaring intently, sitting opposite each other at one of the tavern’s many crowded tables. Jane and Kat were howling with laughter, as the two warriors strained in a closely matched arm wrestling contest.</p><p> </p><p>Parr grinned as Jane winked at Aragon, causing her to lose focus, and Cleves slammed the paladin’s hand to the table with a roar of triumph.</p><p> </p><p>Kat laughed even louder and slung her arm around the victor’s shoulders. It made Parr feel lighter, seeing Kat so much freer and comfortable with physical affection. She turned to comment on the change to Anne and remembered that this was why she had come down from her room in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>“Has anyone seen Anne?” she asked as she approached the table.</p><p> </p><p>Kat shrugged. “I don’t know. You know Anne.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr felt her heart sink a little.</p><p> </p><p>Yes, she certainly did.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed that every time they visited a major city, Anne ran into an “old friend.” And it was also clear that many of those “friends” had not been “just friends”.</p><p> </p><p>Parr knew Anne was a flirt. It was just a part of who she was. She didn’t understand why <em>she</em> was so affected by it.</p><p> </p><p>Parr was not in the mood to think about that right now. She walked over to the bar. “One for me please. I don’t care what brand.”</p><p> </p><p>Anything to think about anything else.</p><p> </p><p>Just for tonight, she didn’t want to think about anything at all.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>It was dark in the Cobalt Soul Monastery as a storm raged outside, rain hitting the window with a heavy pattering beat. Lightning flashed, illuminating the area beside a window where a young girl, no more than 6 years old, sat working with quill and paper by candle light. Her red hair cut just below the chin was bright even in the dimly lit room, her pale skin dusted with freckles. Her legs swung back and forth as she worked, feet not quite touching the ground.</p><p> </p><p>She paused in her studies, her eyes flicking to glance at a shadow she could see if she turned her head just slightly, pretending to lean it against her hand as her quill continued to scratch away.</p><p> </p><p>The girl steeled herself and suddenly pushed back the chair by leaping onto it, flipping onto the table, pivoting in one smooth movement before settling into a defensive stance. “I know you’re there,” she snarled, hating how high and childish her voice sounded. “Come into the light, NOW!”</p><p> </p><p>There was a pause as she studied the darkness, and a figure leaned forward. She saw the familiar bright lipstick turned up into a proud smile. “Good to see you’re still on your guard, <em>ma vie</em>,” the woman said as she stepped out of the shadows.</p><p> </p><p>Mother and daughter stared at each other for a few breathless moments, identical green eyes shining with excitement. The girl launched herself into her mother’s arms, burying her head in her thick brown hair, breathing in the familiar scent of pine and leather. “Mama,” she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Anne Boleyn clutched her daughter to her, tears pricking her eyes. “Hello, Lizzie.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m here, <em>ma vie</em>.”</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Ma Vie, Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anne landed on her back with a hard <em>thud</em>, Lizzie hovering over her. “Who taught you that throw?” Anne wheezed, accepting the offered hand to help pull her to her feet.</p><p> </p><p>“That would be me,” said a voice from the doorway. Anne grinned at the blonde woman who watched her pupil with pride. “You really got her, huh?” the woman said, reaching down for a high five.</p><p> </p><p>“I told you I would!” Lizzie replied cheerfully, slapping her mentor’s hand.</p><p> </p><p>“I always knew you’d be the one to ensure my downfall,” Anne said, playing along, trying to keep a straight face, before chuckling and reaching out to pull the monk into her arms. “Hey, Manser,” she said, hugging the Elvish monk.</p><p> </p><p>Manser grinned and wrapped her arms around Anne. “It’s good to see you, old friend,” she said quietly. “I just came to check on Lizzie, but I’ll make sure no one else comes up here.” She pulled back, glaring at the rogue. “You need to be more careful.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. I just-” she glanced down at her daughter who was watching them closely.</p><p> </p><p>Manser nodded. “I know,” she murmured. “Lizzie needs to be in bed in an hour or there’ll be questions.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne nodded. “I’ll make sure to be gone by then.” She glanced down at her daughter, who was doing her best to appear stoic. “Thanks, Manser.”</p><p> </p><p>Manser smiled back at her, winked at Lizzie, and disappeared out the door.</p><p> </p><p>Anne plunked herself next to Lizzie and reached out to her. Lizzie immediately climbed into her lap and laid her head against her mother’s chest, listening to her steady heartbeat. “I love you, Mama,” Lizzie said softly, pulling out a green cloth that matched Anne’s skirt from the pocket of her robes.</p><p> </p><p>Anne pulled out the well worn blue cloth from her pocket, and pulled at Lizzie’s blue monk garments, finding where the girl had torn the strip off, and placed it at the tear, kissing the top of her head. “I love you too, Lizzie.”</p><p> </p><p>They stayed that way for a long while, both normally so full of energy and unable to be still for more than a minute, but now wanting nothing more than for time to pause for them to sit together for even just a moment longer. Anne hummed softly and rocked Lizzie, occasionally wiping away the tears her daughter was trying so desperately to hide.</p><p> </p><p>At last, Anne pulled back to look Lizzie in the eyes. “Okay,” she said, serious, “you know the drill.”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie sat back, face equally serious, knowing what was coming.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you do if anyone touches you, and you don’t want them to?”</p><p> </p><p>“Scream.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good. What else?”</p><p> </p><p>“Kick them where it hurts.”</p><p> </p><p>“Excellent. And?”</p><p> </p><p>“Grab these fingers,” Lizzie held up her middle and ring fingers, “And pull them back until I hear and feel them snap.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne nodded. “Why?”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie said the words her mother had taught her, that she had known as long as she could remember, speaking them with the intensity of a person who was not just reciting something they had said a million times before, but with the passion of a person who had said this a million times before and would say it a million times again, because she believed every word she said.</p><p> </p><p>“Because my body is my own, and I choose who touches and who doesn’t. My ‘no’ is law, and if the law needs proof that I said no, their hands will show their guilt.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne finally smiled. “That’s my girl.”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie cocked her head. “And because you don’t want what happened to you to happen to me,” she said, watching as Anne’s eyes widened.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re learning a lot here at the Cobalt Soul, aren’t you?” she said quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie nodded. “I learn everything they teach,” she said, reaching under a crack in the floorboards to pull out a well worn book. “And everything they don’t,” she said, handing it to her mother.</p><p> </p><p>Anne laughed tearfully as she read the cover. “<em>Le Comte de Monte-Cristo,</em>” she read. “In its original Elvish.”</p><p> </p><p>“Manser told me it was one of your favorites,” she said.</p><p> </p><p>“It was,” Anne said softly. “How did you get it?”</p><p> </p><p>“The boy you sent? The one with the tooth missing in the front?” Anne frowned, trying to remember. “He said he met you at <em>The Ugly Duckling.</em>”</p><p> </p><p>Anne grinned, remembering the handshake she had made up with the blonde boy. “That’s right. What about him?”</p><p> </p><p>“He delivered your letter, and said he felt wrong keeping the coin. I tried to tell him you would want him to have it, but he insisted, so I asked him to find this book.” Lizzie frowned. “I hope that was alright. I made him keep the rest. He’s been a good friend of mine for so long.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne grinned. “Only six and already a little heart-breaker,” she said, ruffling Lizzie’s hair as the girl squawked in protest. “Yes, it’s fine.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s smile faded as she said what she had dreaded saying since she arrived. “It’s time for me to leave.” Lizzie immediately put on her stoic face, and Anne could see her trying to keep back tears. “Are you too old for lullabies, <em>ma vie</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie shook her head and crawled back into Anne’s lap. “<em>Jamais</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne pulled her close once more, mother and daughter hiding tears from each other, as she began to sing the song that lived in her heart each time she saw a flash of Cobalt blue.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Abandon entouré d'abandon, tendresse touchant aux tendresses...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>C'est ton intérieur qui sans cesse se caresse,</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dirait-on…</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Se caresse en soi-même, par son propre reflet éclairé.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ainsi tu inventes le thème du Narcisse exaucé.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dirait-on…</em>
</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Anne could still feel the weight of her daughter’s sleeping body as she handed Lizzie over to Manser. Even as she walked home in the storm, drawing her cloak around her against the cold, she felt the warmth of Elizabeth’s snuggled form curled into her own.</p><p> </p><p>She bit back tears, taking one last shuddering breath, and collected herself before stepping into the empty tavern.</p><p> </p><p>Well, mostly empty.</p><p> </p><p>She immediately spotted Cathy off in the corner, the only one left in the dimly lit tavern, nodding off into her ale. Anne frowned. Cathy wasn’t really that much of a drinker. Never enough to get <em>really</em> drunk. She walked over to the wizard who finally noticed her presence.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Boleyn,” Cathy slurred. Anne flinched. Cathy didn’t tend to call her Boleyn anymore. “Find yourself a lover tonight?”</p><p> </p><p>She said it so sadly, and Anne came to several realizations at once:</p><p> </p><p>Cathy, whether she knew it or not, had feelings for Anne.</p><p> </p><p>Anne was falling more and more each day for one Catherine Parr.</p><p> </p><p>And Anne was going to have to twist the truth, just for a little longer, no matter how much it hurt to do so.</p><p> </p><p>She had to keep her daughter safe.</p><p> </p><p>She took a deep breath, before responding. “A lady never kisses and tells, Parr,” she responded, feeling her heart clench painfully tight as Cathy’s face crumbled. “Come on, nerd,” she said gently, pulling Cathy into a familiar piggy back hold. “Let’s get you to bed.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Dirait-on is a poem that I learned as a choral lullaby at music camp. You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWXVZlrLa6E</p><p>The translation, poetically: </p><p>Abandon enveloping abandon, Tenderness brushing tendernesses,<br/>Who you are sustains you eternally,<br/>So they say...</p><p>Your very being is nourished by its own enlightened reflection;<br/>So you compose the theme of Narcissus redeemed.<br/>So they say...</p><p>Also, OF COURSE we had to have Manser! Perhaps other alternates will make appearances...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Pen Pals</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TW there's a bit more...graphic violence here. Also mentions of rape/sexual assault, but no graphic descriptions of that.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So this ‘pen pal’ of yours,” Aragon said, eyes scanning the people passing by on the busy thoroughfare. “What does he look like?”</p><p> </p><p>Parr was practically vibrating with excitement. “I’ve never met him, but he said in his last letter that he has blonde hair and would be wearing a blue coat.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wow. Very specific,” Anne drawled. Parr shot her a dirty look.</p><p> </p><p>“He was my only friend at the Academy, Anne,” Parr said coldly.</p><p> </p><p>“He didn’t even <em>go</em> to the Academy,” Anne retorted, and Parr flushed an angry red.</p><p> </p><p>“He was my friend nonetheless,” she snapped. Anne rolled her eyes and turned away, muttering an excuse about having left something back at the book stall they had just visited.</p><p> </p><p>Kat, Jane and Cleves exchanged concerned glances. The two had been acting strangely around each other the past few days, and quite frankly, none of them liked the change.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that him?” Aragon asked, pointing out a man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties, approaching with a wide grin. Aragon squinted. “He looks familiar…”</p><p> </p><p>“Thomas?” Parr asked, voice jumping an octave with excitement.</p><p> </p><p>The man laughed running the rest of the way, lifting the blue-clad wizard off the ground and spinning her in a circle. “Cathy!” he cried, setting her down carefully. “It’s so good to finally meet you in person!”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon studied the man. He seemed nice enough, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity.</p><p> </p><p>A feeling that was explained when Jane spoke up in a strangely quiet, subdued voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Tom?”</p><p> </p><p>The man turned to face the voice, his jaw dropping. “Jane?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat slowly reached for her Kazoo, and saw Anna’s grip tighten on her axe. “Jane?” she said, saying her name as if to ask, <em>‘Is this okay?’</em></p><p> </p><p>Jane studied the blonde man.</p><p> </p><p>“Everyone, I’d like you to meet my brother, Thomas Seymour.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Jane grew up with two brothers. Thomas was, to his credit, the less cruel of the two, but if she was being honest, that wasn’t saying much.</p><p> </p><p>She watched him flirt with Parr with a sick feeling in her stomach, their wizard friend listening to his tales of arcane discovery with a clear sense of awe and admiration.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon sat next to her. “Talk to me?” she murmurred. An invitation more than a demand.</p><p> </p><p>Jane sighed. “Maybe he’s changed,” she said in a quiet, tight voice, watching him laugh and trace a sparking sigil in the air with his finger for a delighted Parr.</p><p> </p><p>“But you don’t think so,” Aragon said. She didn’t press for details, which Jane appreciated.</p><p> </p><p>“I honestly don’t know,” Jane said, “But you keep your eye on her, and I’ll keep my eye on him.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon smirked. “I don’t think I have much to worry about. With the way Anne is watching her, you’d think she was Mae,” she said and Jane glanced over to where the rogue was sitting, indeed watching the interactions with a careful eye.</p><p> </p><p>Though it was interesting, Jane mused. Anne truly didn’t seem jealous. She seemed to be analyzing the situation much like she did when Kat called her ‘Annie.’ As though there was a predator present.</p><p> </p><p>If Thomas hadn’t changed, she wasn’t far off. Jane wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but…</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head. Parr was a grown woman and could make her own decisions. But a small interference, for now at least, would set Jane’s mind at ease. “Time to collect the kids, don’t you think?” Jane suggested, still watching her brother.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I think we could all use some sleep.” They both rose and walked to where the wizards were seated.</p><p> </p><p>“It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Seymour,” Aragon said with a smile, “But I’m afraid we have some group matters to discuss before turning in.” Parr glared up at her godmother, who looked down at her with a single raised eyebrow, as if daring her to disagree.</p><p> </p><p>Parr rolled her eyes, but didn’t contradict her. “I’ll see you out,” she said.</p><p> </p><p>“It was good to see you again, Jane,” Thomas said, giving her an easy smile.</p><p> </p><p>Jane’s stomach lurched uncomfortably again, that he could be so calm around her. <em>If only he knew who I have become</em>, she thought, teeth clenched behind her smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Good to see you too, Tom,” she managed, reaching out, and finding Aragon’s hand waiting for her behind the paladin’s back, gripping tightly, grounding her.</p><p> </p><p>She waited until the two had disappeared before slumping into Aragon’s side. “That bad?” Aragon asked, wrapping a strong arm around the shorter woman.</p><p> </p><p>Jane simply nodded, not having the energy to maintain her usual façade. “Yes,” she murmured. “That bad.”</p><p> </p><p>She glanced over at where Anne was staring at the doorway that the two wizards had exited, frowning in concentration, before leaving the money for her tab at the table and climbing the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Anna and Kat stood at the door of their room, ears pressed to the wood, listening to the argument taking place outside.</p><p> </p><p>“He gives me bad vibes,” Anne said calmly.</p><p> </p><p>They heard Parr exhale in a huff. “You’re just jealous.”</p><p> </p><p>“What do I have to be jealous about?” Anne scoffed.</p><p> </p><p>Parr spluttered, trying to come up with an answer. “You’re just angry that for once, there’s a man who’s flirting with me instead of you!”</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s laughed, and Kat could hear the trace of pain in the sound. “Yeah,” there was a forced sneer in Anne’s voice. “He’s not really my type.”</p><p> </p><p>They heard heavy foot falls stomping away before Anne called from further down the hall, “But if you like creeps, Cathy? You’ve certainly found one. Just ask Jane.” A door slammed and the two eavesdroppers pulled away from their door.</p><p> </p><p>“Just ask Jane?” Kat echoed, exchanging a look with Anna as the they tried to put the pieces of this strange puzzle together.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, she does seem rather uncomfortable around him,” Anna said with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>Kat nodded. “You’re right.” She grinned at her friend. “We’re totally keeping an eye on him, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Anna grinned back, her gold eyes reflecting the little light in the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course. We have to protect the pack.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>The next day, the Six decided to spar in the morning, with Aragon quickly taking Anne as a sparring partner, and Kat facing off with Parr, all four of the queens that were on friendly terms silently agreeing to keep the two separated.</p><p> </p><p>Anne and Cathy seemed intent on venting their frustrations on their partners, though Cathy held back some, not wanting to actually hurt Kat.</p><p> </p><p>Anne had no such reservations.</p><p> </p><p>“OW, ANNE!” Aragon yelled, dropping her sword as Anne aimed a wicked slice at her bicep. “This is just a sparring session!”</p><p> </p><p>“Then you should be ready!” Anne snarled, only calming when Kat gently tugged her hair as a gentle reprimand. “Sorry,” she muttered, sheathing her rapier and grabbing the nearest waterskin.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s mine,” Parr snapped. Anne turned slowly to face her, and for one, horrifying second, every former queen fully expected Anne to empty the waterskin on the fuming wizard. They all waited with bated breath as the two stared at each other.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Anne's body sagged. “Whatever,” she muttered, thrusting the waterskin into Parr’s hands, and walking away, shoulders low, head bowed.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon looked to Kat. “Has she ever…”</p><p> </p><p>Kat shook her head. “She looked-,”</p><p> </p><p>“Defeated,” Jane finished Kat’s thought, then glanced at the stunned wizard.</p><p> </p><p>“Perhaps a break is in order,” Cleves said, grabbing Parr by the shoulders and shaking her gently to snap her from her reverie.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. A break,” Parr said in a hollow voice.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>They found Anne, wrapped in her mottled brown cloak, pretending to be asleep. All of them knew better than to disturb her, but settled in the chairs around the rogue, each engrossed in their own projects.</p><p> </p><p>That was until a familiar voice called out. “Hello!” Jane winced, and Cathy lit up, and the others glanced at Anne, whose eyes were now open, but held none of the sharpness they were used to seeing in the rogue’s gaze, the keen eyes that noticed everything. Now the usual bright green was dull, her body sagging into the chair with exhaustion.</p><p> </p><p>"Sorry I’m late,” Thomas said, hugging Cathy carefully.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy looked down and gasped. “What happened to your hand?”</p><p> </p><p>“I was at the Cobalt library and had a little accident,” the man said sheepishly, running his uninjured hand through his blonde hair, holding up the injured one for Catherine to examine.</p><p> </p><p>“And how did that happen?” Anne said, appearing by his side seemingly from nowhere. Everyone gave a start. No one had even seen her leave the chair.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I tripped and caught myself on the door frame. Bent my fingers back a bit further than they typically like to go,” he said with a self deprecating laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm,” Anne nodded. “Yes, well,” she glanced at Cathy, who was watching her carefully, “Parr always did have a thing for klutzes.” Cathy stared at Anne, who hadn’t called her Parr since being given permission to call her Cathy. “Mind if I take a look?”</p><p> </p><p>Thomas glanced around as if seeking the advice of the other members of the Six. “I learned on a boat trip over from Tal’Dorei,” Anne continued. “Magic is scarce in the middle of the ocean, and setting the bones properly helped speed the healing along,”</p><p> </p><p>Jane met her brother’s gaze and shrugged. “She does seem to have the strangest skills,” she said, an easy truth to tell. Thomas seemed mollified and held his hand out for Anne to inspect.</p><p> </p><p>She made a show of making sure that his bones were set properly, but from the moment he revealed the injury, his fate was sealed.</p><p> </p><p>“Middle and ring fingers” she tutted, seething internally, but giving him a smile. “Harder to heal, but don’t worry,” she said, patting his face gently.</p><p> </p><p>“Soon enough, you won’t feel a thing.”</p><p> </p><p>She turned back to the Six. “I have an errand to run,” she said briskly as if she hadn’t been acting strangely all day. “I’ll be out for the rest of the night as well.” They all noticed Parr stiffen.</p><p> </p><p>All, except Anne, who turned to face Thomas once more. “Good afternoon, <em>monsieur</em>,” she said, before striding away.</p><p> </p><p>Thomas frowned. “She’s a rather strange one, isn’t she?”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy watched as Anne whipped out the door. “You have no idea.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>The party came down to the table the next morning to see Anne already seated, eating breakfast. Parr ignored her, sitting as far away as the table allowed, and the exasperated remaining members of the party took seats to fill the gap.</p><p> </p><p>A young waifish boy stepped into the tavern. After a quick word with the owner, he was pointed in their direction. He ran up to Jane, who frowned. “Can I help you?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>The boy held up a folded note. “I was told to deliver this, miss. It’s from the Cerberus Assembly. Master Trent Ikathon himself wanted it delivered.” Aragon’s eyes snapped to Cathy, who had gone stiff at the mention of the Assembly, and deathly pale at the mention of Master Ikathon.</p><p> </p><p>Jane thanked the boy, giving him a silver piece, before turning to the note. “Who…?” she trailed off as she began to read, gasping after a few moments, her hand shooting to her mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“What is it?” Aragon asked.</p><p> </p><p>Jane’s eyes flicked up to meet Parr’s. “It’s Thomas,” Jane said. “He’s been found dead.”</p><p> </p><p>They sat in stunned silence.</p><p> </p><p>Parr’s body sagged in disbelief, her eyes filling with tears. “What?” she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Jane continued reading and her eyes hardened. She handed the note to Aragon, who scanned it quickly. “He hadn’t changed at all,” Jane said, her voice filled with quiet rage.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon glanced up at her horrified goddaughter with little pity in her eyes. “He was a member of the Cerberus Assembly,” she started, taking a breath as Parr choked down a pained sound.</p><p> </p><p>“And he was found with his hands cut off.” Parr’s entire body seemed to curl in on itself as she wrapped her arms around her torso.</p><p> </p><p>“The punishment for a rapist,” Kat said quietly, for Anna’s sake. The barbarian nodded in understanding.</p><p> </p><p>Parr stared at her food, trying to process the information as the rest of the party watched her, Kat rubbing gentle circles into her back.</p><p> </p><p>They didn’t notice that Anne never once even looked up from her food.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>*the night before*</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>It was late and Thomas was smiling from his latest conversation with Cathy.</p><p> </p><p>This strange teacher she kept mentioning, that came to her in the hours after everyone had gone to sleep, fascinated him. He knew it was only a matter of time before she told him all about him. Another piece of information he could provide to Master Ikathon.</p><p> </p><p>He removed his coat and sank into the chair at his dining table, pulling a few papers and a quill out to begin his work.</p><p> </p><p>He started when a voice whispered from the shadows. “You touched something that wasn’t yours, <em>monsieur,</em>” a woman said and before he could react he felt his body freeze. He saw the bright red lips curved into a cruel smirk emerge first from the shadows, as Cathy’s friend from earlier stepped into the light.</p><p> </p><p>He felt the spell holding him in place; it felt like a modified Hold Person spell. Strangely, he found he could still speak. “Who, Cathy?” he asked, trying to keep his calm. “Isn’t it a tad medieval to consider women property, Miss Boleyn?” Anne sat down on the table, inches away from where his hands lay, her cold green eyes boring into his.</p><p> </p><p>Without looking away, in a flash of movement, she drew a dagger from her side and jammed it into Thomas’ wrist, splintering the wood below. He howled in pain, unable to even attempt to free himself.</p><p> </p><p>“A good friend made me this spell scroll,” Anne said conversationally, holding a piece of parchment up into his line of sight. “She didn’t trust me with it initially, because she is an <em>extremely</em> responsible woman,” she withdrew the dagger and he whimpered. She studied the blade, before wiping the blood off on his silk shirt.</p><p> </p><p>“But then I told her who you tried to touch.”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t touch anyone,” he gasped.</p><p> </p><p>“No?” Anne asked, her cheery voice not matching her icy green glare. “Perhaps this will jog your memory.” She slammed the dagger down into his other wrist, and he screamed again.</p><p> </p><p>“A girl, nearly seven years old,” she twisted the blade and he kept screaming, “Oh, shut up for a moment, would you? Red hair? Does that sound familiar, <em>monsieur</em>?” She leaned in close forcing him to meet her gaze. “You would certainly recognize these eyes, I think.”</p><p> </p><p>His eyes widened. “You-” he said in a broken whisper.</p><p> </p><p>“You tried to touch my child,<em> tête de noeud</em>,” Anne snarled, any pretense at cheer disappearing. “And this spell will last all night. I look forward to hearing all the different ways I can make you scream,” she hissed. “But don’t worry.”</p><p> </p><p>“Soon enough, you won’t feel a thing.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>They were back out on the road a few nights later.</p><p> </p><p>Jane took Parr and Aragon aside before they left. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you about him. I truly had hoped he’d changed.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon nodded her understanding. “We always hope for redemption in the ones we love,” she said quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Parr just pulled Jane into a hug. “I’m sorry we- I’m sorry <em>I</em> made you feel like you couldn’t tell me,” she said.</p><p> </p><p>Jane hugged her back tightly. “You have nothing to apologize for, Cathy. He was a manipulative bastard. You had no way to know, and I wasn’t ready to talk about my past.” She glanced at something over Cathy’s shoulder. “But I do know someone you might want to talk to.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr glanced over her shoulder at where Anne had climbed into a tree, watching the sunrise. She sighed, turning back to her godmother and Jane. “I just don’t understand why she acted the way she did.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon and Jane exchanged glances, sharing the feeling of wanting to scream at the wizard’s blindness. Aragon rolled her eyes skyward, begging Pelor for patience, before looking back down at her goddaughter. Her precious, idiotic goddaughter. Who she loved. So much.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s been looking out for Kat for a while,” Jane said, gripping Aragon’s arm as if sensing her about to explode. “She saw the signs that he hadn’t changed, even before I did.” Parr looked unconvinced. “She was worried, Cathy. She cares about you, you know that. And she told you from the first interaction she had with him that he rubbed her the wrong way.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr’s shoulders slumped as she accepted her friend’s words. “You’re right,” she said. “I’ll go talk to her.” She turned and walked towards the tree where Anne sat.</p><p> </p><p>Jane smiled as Aragon let out the breath she’d been holding. “Are you alright?” she asked, smothering her laughter as Aragon groaned.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve raised an idiot.”</p><p> </p><p>“She’s a genius.”</p><p> </p><p>“And an idiot.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, you’re right, that’s fair. She’s a genius <em>and</em> an idiot.” Jane grinned up at the exasperated paladin, and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “And you’re right,” she said, laughing as Aragon blushed and looked down at her boots. “It was <em>you</em> that raised her.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon’s narrowed her eyes at the blonde. “Hmm.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm, indeed.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Parr looked up at where Anne was sitting staring out across town. “Do you mind if I join you?” she asked, bracing herself for rejection. Instead, she was met by a hand reaching down to help pull her up. Parr took it and climbed up into the tree beside her friend.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi,” she said, watching Anne’s face. Anne stared straight ahead for a moment, before turning away uncomfortably. Parr sighed. “Anne, I’m so-</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t.” Anne cut her off. “I was being a dick, I know. I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you.” She looked again to the same spot in the distance, and her tone softened. “I had something going on.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr frowned, remembering Anne’s gaping absence the past few days. “It’s okay,” she said. “But how I treated you wasn’t right.”</p><p> </p><p>“But-”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Parr interrupted firmly. “I was cruel to you when you were only doing what you do for all of us.”</p><p> </p><p>They found themselves locked in a familiar battle of glares, daring the other to speak.</p><p> </p><p>It was Parr who broke the stalemate. “You see everything,” she said, not breaking eye contact. “You see every danger, you see each of us for our flaws, and our strengths, and you make sure we’re all safe.” Parr frowned down at her hands. “I should know by now to trust your instincts. They’re usually-” she slapped the now laughing rogue's arm, “-not <em>always</em>, Anne, but USUALLY, right.” Anne’s laughter subsided as she studied the wizard once more. “And I do trust you. And your instincts.”</p><p> </p><p>“I hope you know I take that very seriously,” Anne said quietly. “I know what it means for you, for each of you, to trust me in the ways you do.” Anne turned away, staring again into the distance. “I’m trying to live up to what you all need me to be.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr gently took Anne’s hand, giving her every opportunity to pull away. She didn’t move, except to squeeze Cathy’s hand, letting the wizard settle onto her shoulder. “We don’t need you to be anyone but yourself, Anne.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne didn’t respond, but looked out again, leaning her head against curly brown hair.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I wish that were true, Cathy. I really wish it were true.</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There are times that being able to draw these CRAZY connections straight from from history (Thomas being Jane's brother and Parr's husband after Henry, Aragon being Parr's godmother, Anne and Katherine being cousins) and it's just so cool to get to put it in the story.</p><p>As for the handling of Thomas: I checked with my therapist, and told him my plan about cutting off his hands. I've had my own experiences with sexual assault, and was worried that was I was going too far, that I was projecting onto this part of the story too much. He, a man who ends every 'suggestion' with "but do what you want," told me "Don't you dare cut it." </p><p>He told me he had countless of clients tell him that they'd had similar dreams/thoughts revolving around the removal of the hands of their abusers/attackers after having been the victims of assault, and said that it was an accurate and valid portrayal. So, I know it's graphic, but I hope it may prove cathartic to anyone who needs that.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TW Scars and Panic attacks</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anne sat in a tree, feeding Mae strips of meat as she watched Cathy and Aragon play a strange game. They took turns making sharp movements trying to slap each other’s hands, while simultaneously avoiding contact from each other.</p><p> </p><p>“Ninja,” Cathy had explained as she removed her cloak, Aragon banishing her armor to wear her non-combat clothes. Black pants, a yellow sash, and a white shirt, the sleeves of which she rolled up as Cathy explained the game to Anne. “It helps us stay fast.”</p><p> </p><p>“Can I play?” Anne asked. “I’m fast.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, you are,” Cathy agreed, patting her cheek affectionately, “And that’s why you can’t play.” Anne frowned in confusion and Cathy laughed. “Anne, you’d trounce us in a heartbeat! We need the practice.” Anne had simply shrugged and climbed up into a nearby tree, a habit she picked up from Cathy.</p><p> </p><p>Mae settled on her shoulder and Anne grinned. Cathy might depend on Cleves to be her eyes on the ground when she looked through the eyes of her falcon familiar, but Cathy always sent Mae to Anne for snacks.</p><p> </p><p>She watched the blur of movement as the two women tried to hit each other’s hands, but her eyes trained, as they so often did nowadays, on Cathy’s bracers. The bracers that she never took off.</p><p> </p><p>Anne didn’t feel so bad keeping her secrets, knowing that Cathy had plenty of her own. But it did worry her when she saw the wizard flinch away from any form of fire not of her own making, one hand reaching up to grab the other forearm as if to try to protect herself.</p><p> </p><p>No. Anne didn’t like that one bit.</p><p> </p><p>She resolved to ask Cathy about it that night.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>It turned out she didn’t have to. The others were sleeping in their usual pile. She stood by the fire that she had let die down a little more than she used to before meeting the other women, listening to her surroundings.</p><p> </p><p>All she heard was the gentle breeze and the hesitant footfalls of a wizard that was not paying attention to where she walked. Anne sighed. “Cathy, put the book way before you get hurt-,” as if on cue, Cathy tripped, her book flying from her hands. Anne barely caught her, narrowly saving her from tumbling face first into the campfire.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy didn’t scream. She scrambled away from the fire, falling out of Anne’s hold, and silently curled into a ball, all without a sound. Anne watched in horror as she began scratching at her bracers. She knelt down beside her and tried to pull her arms apart. “Hey,” she said softly, trying not to wake the others. “Cathy,” she murmured, holding her wrists firmly as the frantic wizard tried to pull away. “Talk to me.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy’s eyes, wild with panic, looked desperately into the familiar green. “Off,” she gasped, shaking her forearms.</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s eyes widened. “Your bracers? Are you sure?”</p><p> </p><p>“ANNE.”</p><p> </p><p>“Off they come,” Anne said immediately, heart racing at the sharp anxiety in Cathy’s voice. She gently unlaced the bracers and pulled them off.</p><p> </p><p>It took every ounce of training she had received from Seeker Assum in Tal’Dorei to not react to the burns and scars that covered every inch of Catherine Parr’s forearms. She took quick note of the damage, before focusing on Cathy’s face, holding her hands in her own to keep her from scratching, waiting patiently for the wizard to meet her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Breathe,” she said in a low voice. “You’re not at the Academy. You’re here with me.” Anne didn’t look away from Parr for even a moment as she began speaking in a low, steady voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Mae is flying in circles above us. Aragon is curled up in Jane’s lap. <em>No, Cathy, I’m not letting your hands go</em>. Kat is sleeping on Schnitzel and Cleves is- <em>stop that, keep breathing, there you go</em> - Cleves is trying to breathe too actually, Weiner is sleeping on top of her.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy finally looked up at Anne, eyes less wild. “And I’m right here,” she finished firmly.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you,” Cathy whispered after a moment.</p><p> </p><p>Anne nodded. “Anytime, Cathy,” she said, and Cathy knew she meant it.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not going to ask about your scars,” Anne said carefully, “But if you want to talk, I’m here.” Cathy nodded tiredly. “Is it okay to let go of your hands?”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy didn’t really want to let Anne go, but she nodded anyway.</p><p> </p><p>“Good,” Anne said, settling down next to her, and wrapping an arm around her. “Makes this easier,” she said, and Cathy could feel the smile against the top of her head as she leaned into the familiar embrace.</p><p> </p><p>Well. Maybe this was an okay trade-off.</p><p> </p><p>“You need to play that dexterity game more, I think.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy snorted and buried herself deeper into the rogue’s side.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up, Anne.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Shut Up and Dance with Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Kat asked Anna to dance, the barbarian firmly declined. </p><p> </p><p>Anna watched the woman move with the ease and agility of a woman at home in her body. She couldn’t help but wonder where that ease and agility disappeared to when the bard was on the battlefield. Where Anna felt like she could take on the world with her axe in hand, Kat seemed ready to trip over her own two feet just trying to jump out of reach of a monster.</p><p> </p><p>But seeing her on the dance floor, Anna would never have guessed it was possible for the bard to be so clumsy.</p><p> </p><p>What she didn’t know was that Kat was pondering similar thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>“You want me to what?” Anna asked, unamused. Kat, on the other hand, was all smiles.</p><p> </p><p>“I teach you to dance, you teach me to not trip on air when we fight.”</p><p> </p><p>“Kat,” she said with a pained grimace, “I cannot dance.”</p><p> </p><p>The bard crossed her arms. “I don’t believe that.” She smirked. “I think you’re <em>scared</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Well.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine,” Anna snapped, hoisting her axe up onto her shoulder. “But you’re up first, twinkle toes.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat grinned. She knew she was up to the challenge.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Kat was not, as it turned out, up to the challenge. She collapsed to the ground as Anna grinned down at her. “How are you doing down there?” Anna asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up.”</p><p> </p><p>“Still think this is a good idea?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat didn’t know where she found the guts or the energy after the exercises Anna had just put her through, but she forced her legs up to wrap upside down around Anna’s waist and slammed the startled barbarian onto the ground next to her, scrambling to her feet and sitting on Anna’s stomach.</p><p> </p><p>“Yep.”</p><p> </p><p>Anna growled and tried to get up, but then Kat leaned over so close their noses were almost touching and Anna froze in place. “Pretty good idea in my opinion,” Kat whispered, before shooting to her feet and running off. Anna stared up at the sky, breathing hard, reaching for her axe for comfort-</p><p> </p><p>It was gone.</p><p> </p><p>“KATHERINE HOWARD, YOU GET BACK HERE!” Anna roared as she leaped up and chased the giggling bard.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>“This is a terrible idea.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh be quiet, you,” Kat said as she muttered an incantation above her Kazoo. It sprang to life as a stringed instrument took shape and began to play on its own.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s new,” Anna commented and Kat grinned.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve been working on it for a while. Now,” she said, her face turning serious, though her eyes sparkled with mischief. “The number one way to become the best dancer in Wildemount…”</p><p> </p><p>Anna gulped.</p><p> </p><p>“Is to not give a <em>flying fuck</em> what anyone thinks.” Anna stared at the bard, who was smirking at the flustered barbarian.</p><p> </p><p>“Who taught you how to curse?” Anna sputtered.</p><p> </p><p>Kat laughed. “Anna, I was raised in a brothel, who do you think?”</p><p> </p><p>Anna frowned. “That’s true. I hadn’t thought of that.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat felt the familiar warmth spread through her chest as Anna proved, once again, why she was amazing. She knew Kat’s history. She knew there were boundaries that came with that.</p><p> </p><p>But not once had Anna of Cleves ever let that define her opinion of Kat. Everyone else walked on eggshells around the subject of Kat’s childhood, but Anna just rolled with the punches.</p><p> </p><p>Now it was her turn to help her friend feel at home with herself in a situation where their lives weren’t in mortal danger.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought about telling you to do something silly. Anything you wanted. To make a complete fool of yourself.” Anna stared at her, panic clear in her golden eyes. “Relax, Anna, I said I <em>thought</em> about it.”</p><p> </p><p>Anna did relax a tiny bit, watching as Kat circled her. “What are you doing?” she asked. Kat didn’t answer, studying her. Anna squirmed under her gaze.</p><p> </p><p>“That.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat stepped close and gently raised Anna’s face to look at her. “It’s just me,” she said softly.</p><p> </p><p>Anna took a deep breath and allowed herself to fully relax. “Okay,” she said quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Kat smiled and pulled back, before extending a hand.</p><p> </p><p>Anna looked at it warily. “Trust me,” Kat said in the same soft voice, before beginning to sing.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Take my hand, take a breath</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Pull me close and take one step</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Keep your eyes locked to mine</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And let the music be your guide</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Anna let Kat, somehow, teach her to lead in a simple waltz. Kat easily corrected every misstep, and soon Anna allowed herself to feel the rhythm and just laugh, as they whirled around the field they had found, far from the gaze of the others, from judgment and society.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It's like catching lightning</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The chances of finding someone like you</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It's one in a million, the chances of feeling</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The way we do</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And with every step together</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We just keep on getting better</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>So can I have this dance?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Kat finished the dance, twirling away, not letting their hands disconnect. Anna, dazed, just stared at her.</p><p> </p><p>Then her golden eyes lit up. Kat saw the grin sliding across Anna’s features. “What?” she asked warily.</p><p> </p><p>“I know how to teach you!” Anna exclaimed, pulling Kat in a sprint behind her.</p><p> </p><p>“What-?”</p><p> </p><p>“Come on!”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Kat watched Anna work, baffled by everything that had happened in the past half hour.</p><p> </p><p>First, Anna had cut a limb off a tree. A very long limb. To be honest, the limb was about the length of a tree itself, and Kat still wasn’t sure how the barbarian had managed to find it, much less cut it, despite having been present for the event.</p><p> </p><p>Then she began stripping it into long pieces. Kat started to ask what was happening, but a smirk from Anna warned her to be quiet, so she just watched as the barbarian took her axe, and drew an impossibly perfect circle in the ground around the flustered bard.</p><p> </p><p>She then began arranging the strips of bark in a sort of grid. “Excuse me, <em>Fraulein</em>,” she said, and Kat stepped out of the way, staring at her friend with stark confusion that only seemed to delight the barbarian more, before Anna finally relented.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Vertrau mir,</em>” Anna said in the same quiet tone Kat had used earlier, eyes soft as they met the bard's confused stare. Kat felt the tension drain from her shoulders, and gave her a small smile, sitting down off to the side to watch the barbarian work.</p><p> </p><p>After a few more minutes of Anna arranging the strips just so, laying them flat, and spacing them to a specification beyond Kat’s comprehension, she finally stepped back with a satisfied nod.</p><p> </p><p>She plunked herself down next to the bard. “Could you take out your Kazoo? And make a guitar?” Kat’s brow furrowed, but she did as Anna asked, holding the guitar as if she were going to play it.</p><p> </p><p>“You said,” Anna said pointing to where Kat’s hands had instinctively curled as if to play an E chord, “that there are patterns on these instruments that match the Common alphabet.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat nodded, not wanting to interrupt. Anna grinned. “How well would you say you know them?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat blinked. “The chords?” Anna nodded. “How do you mean?”</p><p> </p><p>Anna gestured to the grid she had made. “If I call out a chord name, can you jump from line to line, where you would put your fingers on the guitar?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat’s eyes widened as she glanced back and forth between the instrument in her hands and Anna’s creation. “How did you-?”</p><p> </p><p>“I may not be Parr,” Anna said. “But my memory is not so bad.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat laughed, trying to fight the tears welling in her eyes. Happy tears, for once in her life. “So I have to build the chords quickly, I’m assuming?” she said in a wobbly voice.</p><p> </p><p>Anna grinned. “Exactly. And we’ll see how many chords I can remember. There were numbers in some of them. They seemed harder.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat got to her feet. “They are, sometimes.” She tried to find the best place to start before turning back to Anna. “How will you know if I’m getting the right chord?”</p><p> </p><p>Anna shrugged. “I guess I’ll just have to trust you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter came from a concept where, the first time Kat asked Anna to dance, Move by Little Mix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwD4eJGxPc4) was playing. </p><p>This chapter of course, features Can I Have This Dance from High School Musical 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCa8pxUtN1s)</p><p>And what we don't get to see, is one day, far in the future, Kat stumbles over her words, trying to ask Anna to dance in front of the others, only for Anna to laugh, and pull her onto the dance floor singing "Shut Up and Dance With Me" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbcCG7PkI18)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Helpless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter was not in my original first outline, but I think it's in my top 3 favorites for the whole story</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jane had worked her entire life to keep from feeling helpless.</p><p> </p><p>She had escaped her father and brothers. She had escaped subsequent relationships. She had secured her place at court. She had even escaped the King himself, with a little help.</p><p> </p><p>But there was something about Catherine of Aragon that made her feel helpless, in the most literal sense of the word. She could not be helped.</p><p> </p><p>But this time, she did not want to be helped.</p><p> </p><p>There was nothing more beautiful, she decided, than falling in love with Catherine of Aragon.</p><p> </p><p>She had always admired the former queen. She had admired her faith, her loyalty, and her determination.</p><p> </p><p>In her time traveling with the paladin, she had grown to adore her laugh, treasure her smile, and find great comfort in even just the slightest brush of their hands.</p><p> </p><p>But now, as she watched the paladin pace the floor, she did not like this helpless feeling at all.</p><p> </p><p>“There’s something wrong, I can feel it,” Aragon growled, grabbing her hair in frustration. Jane watched her calmly, knowing there would be no reasoning with Catherine until she had calmed down, at least a bit.</p><p> </p><p>“More and more people are disappearing, and there has to be a pattern, I know it!” She gestured towards the pile of notes she had thrust into Jane’s hands earlier, begging her to look for clues. “<em>It’s right there</em>, I just can’t see it.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane waited for Catherine to finally wear herself out, as she eventually did, slumping to sit next to Jane on the bed. “Did you find anything?” she asked weakly.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Jane answered, and Catherine groaned in frustration, “but I agree that there is a pattern.”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine fell back onto the bed, slinging an arm over her forehead.<em> And she wonders where Cathy gets her flair for the dramatic</em>, Jane thought, rolling her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“I can feel you rolling your eyes at me, Jane.”</p><p> </p><p>“Can you blame me?”</p><p> </p><p>“…no.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane set aside the papers and looked back at the fallen paladin. <em>A distraction might help</em>, she decided. “Catherine, may I ask you a question?”</p><p> </p><p>“You just did, but you’re welcome to ask me another one.”</p><p> </p><p>“Smart-ass.”</p><p> </p><p>“Language.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Language</em>,” Jane mocked, mimicking Catherine’s slight Nicodranian accent. Catherine swatted at her arm playfully.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Te crees muy chistosa, no?”</em> Catherine laughed.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Pues usted se esta riendo, entonces si, me creo bastante chistosa.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Catherine shot upright. “Not <em>usted</em>,” she said, brown eyes pleading. “You’re not my lady in waiting anymore, Jane.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane met her gaze for a moment before agreeing. “<em>Tu</em>, then,” she amended.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s your question?”</p><p> </p><p>“How does a paladin receive their power?”</p><p> </p><p>Whatever Catherine had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t that.</p><p> </p><p>“Why do you want to know?” Catherine asked. Not defensive, simply curious.</p><p> </p><p>Jane picked up her staff, running her thumb across the runes embedded in the wood. “My understanding is that a paladin’s power comes from a great deal of work.”</p><p> </p><p>“Most magic does,” Catherine agreed. “Cathy studied for years at the Cerberus Academy to learn even a fraction of what she knows now. But her magic comes from within. From study and knowledge of how the world works.”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine reached up and tapped the stone at the end of Jane’s staff. Immediately, it began to emanate a light similar to the glow of the setting sun. “My magic comes from faith.”</p><p> </p><p>“In the Dawnfather,” Jane said, running her hand over the smooth stone, watching the light shift around her fingers.</p><p> </p><p>“In Pelor, yes.”</p><p> </p><p>“I always thought my power came from the Stormlord,” Jane said quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Catherine watched her play with the light and leaned back against the headrest of the bed. “Kord?” she asked. Jane nodded. “But now you’re not sure?”</p><p> </p><p>Jane shrugged. “I suppose.” She frowned, trying to remember something. “You underwent some sort of ceremony, correct?”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine nodded. “Yes, I had to swear an Oath. A Sacred Oath.” She focused on the light, swiping her finger to change it to the same blue hue that Jane’s magic blasts took on. “Clerics and paladins, we swear our lives to following gods and ideals. To help us on our journeys, the gods we put our faith in give us power, with faith in turn that we will use it accordingly.” Catherine frowned. “Are you not a cleric of Kord?”</p><p> </p><p>“If I were a cleric, I’d be able to heal the five of you more than I do,” Jane answered with a bitter laugh.</p><p> </p><p>Catherine heard sadness buried beneath the bitterness, and took a breath, sending a quick prayer to Pelor for courage, before glancing up at the blonde. “I always just thought you were making sure we learned our lessons about being careful in battle. A stingy type of cleric.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane turned slowly to face Catherine, eyes narrowed. “You think you’re <em>so</em> funny, Aragon,” she said.</p><p> </p><p>Catherine poked her side. “You think I’m funny too,” she said, smirking. Jane gave up on being upset and pushed the paladin’s face into the bed with her hand.</p><p> </p><p>“You have your moments,” she laughed as Catherine shot up, gasping for air. Jane smiled, watching the paladin engage in dramatics once more. It saddened her that Aragon didn’t feel comfortable being herself around the others, but she was honored that the normally serious, steadfast warrior felt she could let her guard down around her.</p><p> </p><p>“Jane?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure you’re not a cleric…?”</p><p> </p><p>Jane braced herself, waiting for her friend to finish her sentence.</p><p> </p><p>“Because you look divine.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane blinked.</p><p> </p><p>And blinked again.</p><p> </p><p>And whipped her head to see Catherine of Aragon leaning against the bed frame, eyes sparkling, with a shit-eating grin planted on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you-” Jane had to cut herself off and start again. “Did you just use a <em>pickup line?</em>”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine dropped the over-the-top confidence act with a sheepish laugh. “Yes, I did.” She sat up and gently turned Jane’s face up to hers. “I may be Cathy’s godmother,” she said softly, “but even I can take a hint like the two-by-four you slammed into me in Rexxentrum.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane chuckled, raising her hand to cover Catherine’s. “So not a complete idiot, then,” she responded with a small smile.</p><p> </p><p>Catherine leaned in. “I don’t think so,” she breathed before pressing her lips to Jane’s.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Maybe Jane’s powers weren’t divine.</p><p> </p><p>But in that moment, wrapped up in the arms of Catherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour couldn’t have cared less.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Usually I leave language to readers' google skills, but I would like to explain the importance of the Spanish used here:</p><p>'Usted' is used to indicate the person you are talking to is in some position above you, whether it be in society, age, or general level of respect. "Tu" is used when you're on equal footing (especially in non-formal situations), or to someone below you.</p><p>In asking Jane to use 'tu' instead of 'usted', Catherine is asking Jane to view her as an equal, not a superior.</p><p>Just an important thing to note. No uneven power dynamics in MY fic!</p><p>(Also, I wish I was HALF as smooth as Catherine was here, even if this was super dorky)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Beach Trip</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Six had been working hard, taking odd jobs to clear out monsters here and there.</p><p> </p><p>But they all had also learned to spot the signs of exhaustion. So when Aragon suggested a trip to her home city of Nicodranas, everyone immediately agreed. They hitched a ride on a merchant’s cart, and Anne noticed as they traveled farther and farther from Rexxentrum, and closer to the coastal city, the more Cathy seemed to relax.</p><p> </p><p>And Anne was happy Cathy could relax. But it meant that she had to be even more on her guard. Cathy needed the time away, to not worry so much.</p><p> </p><p>Anne now watched as the wizard bounded through the waves, splashing Kat and Cleves, laughing without a care in the world as they tried to wrestle each other in the surf.</p><p> </p><p>Anne then focused on Aragon, watching as the woman glanced over at Jane, sleeping on the beach, before looking up at where Anne was perched on the rocks a little ways away. Aragon grinned and Anne knew what was coming next, even if she couldn’t believe the paladin’s nerve.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon climbed carefully to her feet, not making a sound…</p><p> </p><p>And scooped Jane up in one quick movement, racing towards the water.</p><p> </p><p>Jane made a screeching sound reminiscent of the one she’d made when they were all first reunited nearly two years ago, before the sound was abruptly cut off as Aragon deposited the healer into the ocean. </p><p> </p><p>The other four women fell silent as a soaked blonde head slowly rose from the water.</p><p> </p><p>In a panic, Cathy made a twisting motion with her fingers that Anne swore took two seconds less to make than the six Cathy had informed her it normally took, and shot herself, Cleves, and Kat away from the two older women, landing next to Anne.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy crawled up, hiding behind Anne, who didn’t seem nearly as bothered as Cathy thought the situation warranted. “Am I about to lose my godmother?” Cathy whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Anne rolled her eyes. “No, but I think we’re about to get a bit of a show.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane stood slowly, parting her hair from her face before planting hands on her hips, fully clothed and soaking wet, glaring at the childish, insufferable, ridiculously stupid woman she’d had the misfortune of falling in love with.</p><p> </p><p>“You think you’re funny, hmm?” she said in her deep, alto voice, the polar opposite of the screech from earlier.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon grinned. “I’m told I have my moments.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane stepped up into the taller woman’s space, sliding her hands up Catherine’s shoulders and around her neck, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.</p><p> </p><p>“You seem a bit too confident in that assumption, <em>mi amor</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon’s eyes widened, and their captive audience watched as the two blinked out of existence, before Aragon reappeared high in the air above the water-</p><p> </p><p>-and Jane appeared behind the rest of the party, to the sound of startled yelps. “I learned a new spell,” she said as casually as one might give the day’s forecast. “But I didn’t warn Catherine.”</p><p> </p><p>They all laughed as the paladin yelled, falling through the air, before hitting the water face-first. Jane sighed, rolling her eyes. “I suppose I should go heal her. She needs her strength,” she said, shooting a wink back at the group before disappearing once more.</p><p> </p><p>They sat in stunned silence until Anne let out a loud whoop. “That’s twenty gold you owe me, Cleves!” she crowed.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves groaned and splayed herself out on the rock. “DAMMIT, JANE!” she roared as Anne continued to holler.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Jane stood in the waves in front of a disgruntled paladin of Pelor. “Did we learn a lesson?” she teased.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes. When pranking you, have a Counterspell scroll handy,” Catherine muttered, touching her bruised face with a wince. She tried to wave away Jane’s hands. “I can heal it myself.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane took Catherine’s face in her hands and drew her down in a deep kiss. Radiant energy flowed from where their skin touched, healing Catherine’s wounds. “All better,” Jane said, pulling away to tap Catherine’s nose as she blinked in astonishment, before the healer disappeared, 200 feet away, safe on the beach.</p><p> </p><p>“GET BACK HERE, JANE-”</p><p> </p><p>*******</p><p> </p><p>Parr sat on the rocky bluff next to Anne, staring at the water crashing below as the rogue looked on in amusement.</p><p> </p><p>“So Jane-”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep.”</p><p> </p><p>“And Catherine-”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh-huh.”</p><p> </p><p>“They’re-”</p><p> </p><p>“You probably don’t want to think too much about that.”</p><p> </p><p>“How did I not see that?” Parr exclaimed, staring at the ocean below.</p><p> </p><p>Anne snorted. “I have no idea, Cathy.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I JUST REALLY LOVE BEACH TRIP CHAPTERS OKAY The potential for shenanigans is ENDLESS at the beach. Throw in D&amp;D-esque magic?</p><p>CHAOS.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Two of Nein</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Critical Role Crossover!!! </p><p>The characters we meet here are from the second campaign of Critical Role. You don't need to have seen the show to understand what happens, though it helps, and I've avoided MOST of the major spoilers. There is one allusion to a spoiler and a lot of minor spoilers regarding the character of Caleb Widogast if that's important to you!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cleves’ head was buried in her arms, Kat stroking her hair absentmindedly.</p><p> </p><p>“She couldn’t have waited another week?” Cleves groaned. Kat smiled.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ll live, Anna.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr and Anne pulled up chairs across from the two already seated.</p><p> </p><p>“How are you feeling, Cleves?” Anne asked innocently, taking a sip of her ale. Cleves raised her head to glare at Anne.</p><p> </p><p>“If Jane had just waited a week-”</p><p> </p><p>“Who said it was Jane that made the move?” Anne interjected.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you kidding?” Cleves snorted. “A snail could have made a move faster than Aragon would.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” Parr exclaimed. They all looked at her in disbelief. “No, you’re right,” she conceded.</p><p> </p><p>Kat sneezed, a series of sneezes that sounded suspiciously to Anne like “Pot. Kettle.” She kicked her cousin under the table with a glare, and Cleves smirked up at her. Anne’s face went from defensive, to meeting Cleves with a matching smirk. Cleves’ face immediately dropped and she buried her face in her arms once more.</p><p> </p><p>Kat looked between the two women. “What just happened?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Kat.” She glanced over at Cathy, and paused, taking a moment to take in her posture.</p><p> </p><p>The wizard was frozen, sitting ramrod straight, head facing away, but Anne had long since learned the signs of reminders of The Academy. She scanned the room, and zeroed in on the figure Cathy was staring at. “Howie,” she said quietly, and Kat sat up, cheer gone in an instant, alert. “Be ready for trouble,” she said, eyes trained on a slender human in a long purple coat, with long reddish brown hair tied back into a low pony tail, ordering a drink at the bar. “I’ll be right back.”</p><p> </p><p>*******</p><p> </p><p>Anne marched up to the man, with no pretense of pleasantries. He spotted her approaching, and raised an eyebrow. “May I help you, miss?” he asked haltingly, his Zemnian accent standing out among the Nicodrani locals.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know, can you?” Anne replied cooly. “My friend over there seems to recognize you. I don’t suppose you know her?”</p><p> </p><p>He glanced up in the direction Anne was pointing and froze when his eyes met Cathy’s.</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s hand began to slip down to where her dagger lay hidden, when she felt a tap on the shoulder. “Can I do something for you, or do you wanna get away from my friend?” she heard a familiar voice snap. She whirled around, grinning before she even saw the dark-skinned woman.</p><p> </p><p>“Beau?” she exclaimed.</p><p> </p><p>Beau squinted at her, before a matching grin spread across her face. “Annie B!” she laughed, pulling the rogue in for a rough hug. “What are you doing back in Wildemount?” the blue-clad monk of the Cobalt Soul asked, shaking her slightly.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s a long story,” Anne replied with a shrug.</p><p> </p><p>Beau’s gaze darkened. “No, but seriously, what do you want with Caleb?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne frowned. “I don’t know. My friend back there,” she pointed back at the table where her friends sat, watching the events unfolding closely. “She seems terrified of him.”</p><p> </p><p>Beau glanced over at Cathy, then back to Caleb, who was rubbing his forearm nervously. “Shit,” she muttered, wrapping an arm around Caleb. “Any chance your friend attended the Solstryce Academy?</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Caleb and Cathy sat next to each other on a bench outside the busy tavern. Cathy glanced at where Beau and Anne sat on a nearby rooftop, far enough away to be out of earshot, but close enough to come running at the first sight of trouble. They spoke with the ease and the nerves of old friends that knew they might be about to become new enemies. “You have your protector too, I see,” Parr said quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Caleb smiled, glancing up at Beau. “<em>Ja</em>,” he murmured. “She is a dear friend.” He sighed, his hands clenched tightly together. “I am sorry, Catherine,” he said softly. “For everything I did to you.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr ran a hand over her bracers, tracing figures. “I know it wasn’t really your fault Bre-, sorry, Caleb. My godmother told me about the Assembly.”</p><p> </p><p>He smiled sadly. “Yes, but it was still me. And do not worry with the name. You knew Bren Ermendrud. Not Caleb Widogast.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy studied him. His hunched frame, the haunted eyes she saw mirrored in her own. “Yes, I knew Bren,” she said. “But you’re not Bren anymore, are you?” He glanced up at her, searching for something. “The man who gave me these,” she said, pulling her left bracer off, and he winced. “Would never have flinched at his handiwork,” she said.</p><p> </p><p>She extended her hand and lit a small blue flame.</p><p> </p><p>He gazed at it in awe. “How did you turn it blue?” he asked, and she could see him doing the same kind of calculations she did when she saw new magic.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s strange,” Cathy said. “I don’t know why it turned blue. But it let me take back my control of fire, despite how it was used to hurt me.” She let the wisps of flame dance around her fingers before clenching her fist to extinguish it.</p><p> </p><p>“I overcame my fear.” Cathy paused and shook her head. “Well, I’m overcoming it now, with the help of my own dear friend.” She glanced up at where Anne was watching her.</p><p> </p><p>Caleb studied her and allowed himself a small smile. “I get the feeling,” he said “that the friendships we share with our protectors are distinctly different.” Cathy looked at him, confused. “You’re a smart one, Parr. You’ll figure it out,” he said with a small chuckle. He stood to leave.</p><p> </p><p>“Caleb?” The man turned.</p><p> </p><p>“If you’re looking for absolution…I can’t speak for the others. But I forgive you.”</p><p> </p><p>Caleb bowed slightly in her direction. “That means a great deal, Catherine. Thank you,” he said before he jerked his head in the direction of the two women watching. “Now let’s go collect the lesbians, <em>ja</em>?” He strode away, yelling “Beauregard! I bet you can’t jump down from that roof!”</p><p> </p><p>“FUCK YOU, CALEB!”</p><p> </p><p>Parr sat, frozen.</p><p> </p><p>Lesbians?</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Beau and Caleb sat with Six as they nursed their drinks. Jane and Aragon had descended from their room, looking refreshed and happy.</p><p> </p><p>Beau and Anne were laughing, telling more and more extravagant stories of their time as friends before Anne’s time at court. “GODS, do you remember the time Dairon-” the two locked eyes and burst into laughter, Beau clapping Anne’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“No, we can’t tell that story,” Anne said, wiping away tears. She jerked her head at where Kat sat, watching with great interest. “There are children’s toys present.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat glared at her. “There is <em>literally</em> nothing you could have done that I have not done, Anne,” she sniffed.</p><p> </p><p>Beau snorted. “I doubt that.” Anne swatted the back of her head, hard. “OW!” Beau growled. “Are you sure you didn’t end up training as a monk?”</p><p> </p><p>“Why, am I bringing back old memories?” Anne shot back.</p><p> </p><p>Beau snorted again, then gave a start as if just remembering something. “Is it true you married the king?” The whole table fell quiet. Anne never spoke of her time as Henry’s wife.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, for like, a <em>week,</em>” Anne said easily, and the party relaxed.</p><p> </p><p>Beau grinned. “The idea of you, <em>The</em> Annie B., saddled to a <em>man</em>?” Beau shook her head. “I’d believe that Caleb could outdo Yasha in a push-up competition before I’d believe that.” Her head snapped over to face Caleb. “Hey, do you think-”</p><p> </p><p>“Absolutely not, Beauregard. Ask Yasha to do push-ups yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>Beau slumped in her chair, but shrugged. “Fair.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne leaned forward to speak to Caleb. “Is it really true you named your group The Mighty Nein?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves snorted a laugh and Caleb grinned at the Zemnian woman. “Yes, that is our group’s name.”</p><p> </p><p>“We’re more of a nine than you!” Anne said, doing the math quickly.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah?” Beau smirked.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah! We’ve got Kat, Parr, Cleves, Aragon, Jane, Me, Mae, Wiener and Schnitzel!” Anne rattled off. Caleb choked on his drink. Cleves glanced at him, daring to say something. He just smiled knowingly and looked away.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, we’ve got Jester, Yasha, Caleb, Fjord, Nott, Caduceus, me, Frumpkin and M-” she cut herself off and Caleb glanced at her. “And Sprinkle,” she finished taking a long drink from her stein. Caleb, seeing her discomfort, poofed his cat familiar, Frumpkin, into the monk’s hands. She immediately pulled him close, smiling gratefully at the wizard.</p><p> </p><p>Kat, in an attempt to break the sudden tension, spoke up. “Who is Sprinkle?”</p><p> </p><p>Caleb laughed. “The mightiest of the Nein. That little weasel has survived more than the rest of us combined in his short life.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat frowned. “What kind of a name is Sprinkle, anyway?”</p><p> </p><p>Caleb glanced over at Cleves, before responding. “I don’t know, <em>Fraulein</em>. Why don’t you ask your friend there, who has named her hounds after a Zemnian meat?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat whirled around to stare at Anna. “You did WHAT?”</p><p> </p><p>Anna didn’t even look up from her drink. “It’s good meat.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr watched Caleb closely during the time the Six spent with him and the monk. She could see hints of the man she had briefly known. But even she could see how much had changed.</p><p> </p><p>She knew that the scars from the years of torture, held to the flames would never truly fade.</p><p> </p><p>She glanced over at Anne who was already looking at her, head cocked, silently asking if she was alright</p><p> </p><p>She smiled and nodded. Anne smiled back and went back to talking to Beau.</p><p> </p><p>She would recover, with the help of her friends.</p><p> </p><p>She just needed time.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>To be clear about how my headcanons for the queens sexualities IN THIS FIC (I refuse to speculate about the actual women in history, I am writing about fictional characters inspired by them):</p><p>Aragon: Bisexual<br/>Boleyn: Lesbian<br/>Seymour: Bisexual<br/>Cleves: Lesbian<br/>Howard: On the ace (asexual) spectrum (and would have been regardless of her trauma), but is attracted romantically to women<br/>Parr: Pansexual</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. A Death in the Family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Six were mid-fight with a giant, a living one this time, when Aragon stumbled backwards, dropping her sword to grab her head with both hands, and Anne stiffened in shock, her sword falling to the ground as well, eyes glassy and unseeing.</p><p> </p><p>Kat, Jane, and Cathy glanced at each other in a panic. “Cleves!” Jane shouted, “We need to end this, NOW.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves, who hadn’t noticed anything amiss as she dodged another heavy blow from the roaring giant, swung her axe into it’s leg with a satisfying crunch. “What do you think we’ve <em>BEEN</em> doing?” she snarled.</p><p> </p><p>Jane’s eyes steeled as she saw Aragon fall to her knees. “I’m going to do something stupid,” she said, seeing the other women look to her in shock. “Kat, grab Anne and tell Cleves to run on three, in Zemnian. Parr, grab Catherine.”</p><p> </p><p>She ran forward as the others obeyed her instructions, passing Cleves, who was running away after hearing Kat’s shout. “<em>Vas-?</em>”</p><p> </p><p>“GO! I’ll be right behind you,” Jane snapped, not pausing in her stride.</p><p> </p><p>They watched in amazement as Jane, ducking underneath the blow of a club, grabbed the leg of a monster and muttered something under her breath. The giant blinked out of existence.</p><p> </p><p>“We have one minute, RUN!” Jane roared, taking off away from where the giant had once stood.</p><p> </p><p>They did, and were far, far away when a minute later, they heard the giant roar, and the crashing of houses being torn apart in the distance.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Jane, Kat, Cleves and Parr stood outside the door of the room that Anne and Catherine had locked themselves in.</p><p> </p><p>There was no shouting, and they could just make out the quiet sound of them talking, though not any specifics.</p><p> </p><p>“Does anyone have any idea what happened?” Parr asked, glancing at the other three women.</p><p> </p><p>Kat and Cleves looked just as confused as she did, but Jane was staring at the door with narrowed eyes. “I might have an idea,” she said quietly. Parr was about to press when the door finally opened.</p><p> </p><p>An exhausted Aragon stood there, shoulders slumped. “Come in,” she said stepping out of the way so they could enter. They all filed in quietly, Jane last, closing the door behind her.</p><p> </p><p>Jane took one look at Catherine’s face and pulled her in for a hug. “She’s going to be okay,” Jane whispered, and Catherine didn’t question how she knew; she just wrapped her arms around the blonde, burying her face in her shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>Parr walked over to where Anne was staring out the window, as Kat and Cleves perched on the edge of the bed. “Anne?” she asked. <em>Are you okay? Is Catherine okay? How can we help?</em> All her questions wrapped up in just the way she said the rogue’s name.</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked up at her, and with no emotion in her voice, said:</p><p> </p><p>“King Henry Dwendal is dead.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*anakin skywalker voice* This is where the FUN begins...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Approved Pantheon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Parr, Cleves and Kat learned that the other three members, Catherine and Jane together, and Anne independently, had been following the news surrounding the disappearances throughout the Empire for the past two years, trying to put pieces together.</p><p> </p><p>In contrast to his brother’s devotion to Pelor, Henry himself had never particularly cared about the religious sides of magic, focusing resources and attention on the arcane, funneling resources into the Cerberus Assembly and its study of mortal potential.</p><p> </p><p>Two years ago, that had changed. And now, Anne and Catherine, united in the news of the death of the King, in the form of messages received at the same time from two separate sources they would not name, had put the pieces together.</p><p> </p><p>“The people going missing are people who believe in gods outside of the approved pantheon,” Anne said quietly. Aragon was still wrapped around Jane, her face hidden in the crook of the blonde's neck, not ready to talk.</p><p> </p><p>“The…<em>approved</em> pantheon?” Kat asked.</p><p> </p><p>Anne nodded. “Wildemount is advanced in many ways,” she said, “but in the ways of religion, the Empire is viewed as rather backward. There are six gods whose worship is allowed openly here, out of the twelve known Prime Deities.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne drew a small stack of cards, holding one up for each god, one symbol on each card, some familiar, some not. “Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon,” she held up a card with the profile of a dragon, “Erathis, the Law Bearer,” a double-bladed axe, “Ioun, the Knowing Mistress,” a circle with three eyes, “Moradin, the All-Hammer,” a hammer and anvil, “The Raven Queen,” a white mask surrounded by black feathers, “and Pelor, the Dawnfather.” She held up a familiar symbol, a symmetrical golden orange sun, identical to the one that Aragon wore around her neck.</p><p> </p><p>“There are other gods,” she said, glancing at Jane, “but where once, those who openly worshiped them were simply branded heretics and imprisoned,” the cards disappeared from sight she made a gesture that Parr knew was sleight of hand but could swear seemed so seamless it had to be magic. “They are now going missing, and in large numbers.”</p><p> </p><p>“Prisons aren’t reporting having an influx of prisoners, and there have been no reports of any mass graves.” Anne paused, glancing over at Aragon for permission to continue.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon finally lifted her head and nodded, tired eyes not meeting hers.</p><p> </p><p>“Every week on Da'leysen, they release the ashes from the fires burned in the castle. Two years ago, it is said that the amount of ashes released tripled.” Anne glanced at Parr, hoping the mention of fire was okay, and found the wizard watching her steadily. “Now they release the ashes twice a week instead.”</p><p> </p><p>“Do you think Henry was doing this?” Parr asked.</p><p> </p><p>Anne shook her head. “Henry never cared about religion. If anything, the laws restricting religion relaxed with him as King.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then who-?”</p><p> </p><p>“Mary.”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone turned to look at the Paladin, who was crying. “Mary has always had a strange way of seeing the world. Black and white, like mine, but with lines drawn in ways I never understood.” The paladin’s voice was hoarse. She opened her mouth to continue before breaking down, sobbing.</p><p> </p><p>Jane continued for Catherine, still holding her, looking to the others. “Mary has faith in Pelor, faith that, in some ways, even surpassed Catherine’s.” She smiled sadly. “But she had no tolerance for others’ ideas, for other ways of looking at the world. And,” she hesitated, but felt Aragon squeeze her hand, giving her permission to finish the thought, “she wasn’t afraid of violence, even as a child.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves, Kat and Parr stared at the three former queens, Aragon more broken than anyone had ever seen her, Jane and Anne exchanging looks of grim understanding.</p><p> </p><p>“So…” Cleves said slowly. “Mary is…has been…burning the bodies of those who don’t follow the approved deities?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” Anne said simply.</p><p> </p><p>“What do we do?” Kat asked.</p><p> </p><p>There was silence as Aragon slowly pulled away from Jane, touching her holy symbol.</p><p> </p><p>“We have to stop her.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The land this story is set in, Exandria, has a different calendar system. Da'leysen is one of the 7 days of the week.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Mary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mary Dwendal was so used to betrayal that it felt like a second skin.</p><p> </p><p>It started early, when she was walking the streets of Rexxentrum with her mother. She was four years old and her mother, done screaming at her father for the moment, had decided she needed some time in the sun.</p><p> </p><p>Mary, always eager to hear stories of the Dawnfather, happily went with her. As they were walking along, Mary noticed a bird, a pigeon, twitching and spasming in pain. She ran to it, ignoring her mother’s cries of panic, as she ran in front of a wagon, scooped the bird up and just barely missed being trampled as she made it to the other side of the busy thoroughfare.</p><p> </p><p>“Mary!” Aragon yelled, “Stay where you are, I’ll be right there!”</p><p> </p><p>“’Kay!” she called back before turning her attention to the bird.</p><p> </p><p>It lay in her arms, its wings broken and spine bent at a strange angle. Its eyes bore into Mary’s. <em>Please</em>, it seemed to beg, and Mary knew what she had to do.</p><p> </p><p>By the time Aragon made it over, Mary was digging a small hole in the dirt by the road. “What happened?” she asked, looking down at the pigeon.</p><p> </p><p>Its neck was snapped.</p><p> </p><p>“It was hurting,” Mary tried to explain, but it was too late.</p><p> </p><p>She had already seen the look of horror and repulsion in her mother’s eyes.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>She felt that repulsion slowly turning to hate. It was in the careful watch Aragon kept when Mary was around. In the way she snapped at her when Mary did what made sense to her, but not to her mother. She turned away from her mother’s teachings of Pelor’s ways, and relied on tutors her father provided to teach her what she wanted to know.</p><p> </p><p>She turned to her father for comfort. He was more than willing to oblige, tolerating her preference for clerical magic, but grooming her to be the leader she must become to rule the Empire.</p><p> </p><p>“It is a hard job,” he taught her. “You must do what it takes to ensure the survival of the Empire, to ensure your own survival. Let no one in…” he said, waiting for her to finish his phrase.</p><p> </p><p>“And let nothing out,” she said obediently. He smiled.</p><p> </p><p>“Sometimes,” he said quietly, “I think women make better rulers than men.” He flicked his fingers and a flame came to life in them. “Men are all passion and fire, despite how others try to paint us. We roar and slash until some outside force settles us or we run out of fuel to keep going.” The fire extinguished.</p><p> </p><p>“Women are water, malleable to fit the situation,” he snapped his fingers and Mary jumped, “but turning to ice in an instant, to pierce the heart when you least expect it.”</p><p> </p><p>“But you, Mary?” He knelt to meet her, eye to eye. “You are your mother’s fire,” he raised his hand to touch her cheek, his skin cold. “And my ice,” he said conjuring the memory she had described to him, of the broken pigeon. “That will take you far, woman, man, or anything else.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary nodded. “I won’t let you down, father.”</p><p> </p><p>Henry smiled. “I know.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Mary’s favorite guard sat next to her on the floor. “Are you alright, your highness?” the woman asked, her dark curly hair tied low and away from her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Stapleton, I’m fine,” Mary said quietly. They both winced, listening to the fighting outside. “Stapleton?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Highness?”</p><p> </p><p>“Even if they’re not…you will be by my side, right?” she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Stapleton’s heart clenched. She wished she could take the two nobles snapping at each other about nothing, and slam their heads together, to see the brilliance that shone in this child, this eagerness to help fix the world, to demand they be <em>parents</em> to her, instead of watching her like she was a feral cat, or using her for her power.</p><p> </p><p>She had sworn an oath to protect the Queen, and she had no doubt that Mary Dwendal would one day be the Queen.</p><p> </p><p>“I swear it,” she said firmly.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Mary was crying in her room. Her mother had left her, abandoned her.</p><p> </p><p>All for her precious goddaughter, who Aragon didn’t hate, who she loved so much anyone could see it. Love she had not spared for Mary since she was four.</p><p> </p><p>She saw something move in the upper corner of her room. “You’re a little late, don’t you think?” she snarled, grabbing a book from the desk and hurling it at the raven who darted neatly out of the way. It cawed once, and flew out her window.</p><p> </p><p>The princess collapsed to the cold floor, clutching her knees. <em>Ever vigilant. Forget not the past.</em> She recited parts of the the Dawnfather’s commandments to calm herself.</p><p> </p><p>The door opened and her father’s tired form appeared. “Mary?” he said softly. She sprang to her feet and hugged him. He wrapped a gentle arm around her. “It’s alright, love.” He took her face in one hand. “I’ve been working on something for a long time, and I think you’re ready to know about it.” He gave a grim smile. “A distraction from your mother’s betrayal.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary let her eyes grow cold to match his and she nodded. “I’m ready, father.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>She was not ready.</p><p> </p><p>She couldn’t have been ready for the screams of tortured prisoners, magic shards jammed into open wounds in hopes of causing arcane transformation.</p><p> </p><p>Innocents slaughtered in the name of launching the Empire forward in science and magic.</p><p> </p><p>She raced to her room, and threw up, heaving over and over, into a bucket.</p><p> </p><p>“Perhaps I was wrong,” her father’s cold voice floated towards her. “It seems you do not have what it takes to be queen.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary whirled to face him, only fifteen, but already with the air of command befitting royalty. “What is being done in those dungeons is <em>monstrous</em>,” she said, snarling. She saw another figure slowly come up the stairs behind the king.</p><p> </p><p>“Master Ikathon,” King Henry said without even turning around, “It would seem my daughter is not ready. Again. Wipe her memory.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary’s mind reeled. So it was true. Her father had been manipulating her memories, showing her these dungeons, over and over, until she was ‘ready’ to see the sadistic experiments taking place below the castle.</p><p> </p><p>“No.” She glared at her father, standing tall. “Not again, father.”</p><p> </p><p>The King smirked. “Go on, Trent.” He frowned when the mage did not move. He turned to look at the man. “Ikathon-”</p><p> </p><p>He felt a spell wash over him, and could not resist as he felt senses leave him, left only with the screaming instinct to hide.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe you do have what it takes,” he whispered, his last conscious words, before his eyes glazed over.</p><p> </p><p>As the once mighty King of Dwendalian Empire curled into a ball on the ground, Queen Mary nodded to Trent Ikathon. “How long does the spell last?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Feeblemind lasts a month,” he responded in a slithy tone that made Mary shudder. “But it can be recast as many times as you like, your highness.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary nodded. “Very well, Master Ikathon,” she said. “Thank you for your service.” He gave a slight bow, and left the two royals.</p><p> </p><p>Mary knelt down next to the King. “You should have listened to your own advice, Father.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>“I will not give you more innocents, Master Ikathon,” Mary said, not looking up from her desk.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, your Highness, not innocents.” The mage laid a paper on her desk. “Heretics.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary froze. “They’re still people,” she responded, her voice even, hiding her panic as she looked over the paper. A list of names. </p><p> </p><p>“They are threats,” Trent Ikathon said, echoing her even voice. “Their barbaric practices are a threat to the order of the Empire.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary arched a brow at him. “And torturing them helps how?”</p><p> </p><p>Trent smiled, what was clearly meant to be comforting, and produced the opposite effect. “For science, your Highness,” he said, “and it sends a message.” He nodded at the figure chained in the corner. “And after all, Mary...” Mary didn’t turn to look, closing her eyes as though that could erase what she’d done, that if she didn't look at her father's trembling form, she could pretend he wasn't there.</p><p> </p><p>“Look at what you’ve done to your father already. What is one more step in the name of justice?”</p><p> </p><p>Mary reached up to touch the cracked pendant around her neck. <em>Justice</em>. So often her mother had spoken of justice. Now, it was time for her daughter to actually carry it out.</p><p> </p><p>“Very well,” Mary said quietly, going back to her work. “But I will be the one to end it, once all is said and done,” she said in a voice that left no room for argument. Ikathon bowed and left. Mary lit a small fire in her hand.</p><p> </p><p><em>It would seem I am the monster you always thought I was, Mother,</em> she thought, staring at the dancing flames.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>But I will do what I must for the Empire.</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, this entire concept of Mary being the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) actually came when I was creating a musical piece where I wanted to write about a descent into evil/madness. I ended up composing a piece I named 'I Die By My Lady Greensleves', but not having written this story yet, and not wanting to spoil this twist for my friends, I didn't explain that it was written about Mary at the time, and disguised it as an homage to one of my favorite video games, Dishonored. You can check that piece out here if you're curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bGhClGRruE</p><p>The song I ended up using to really help me figure out Mary's character is a piece called Heart of Darkness. Really, the whole album captures the spirit of her descent into "evil" or "darkness" if you will, but that piece in particular captures the true essence of what I wanted to convey. The album is also called Heart of Darkness, but you can find the song itself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1L7KQdtR8o</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Succession</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“When did you learn to do THAT?” Anne gasped, holding an unconscious and bleeding Kat as Cathy let go of her arm to support a concussed Aragon.</p><p> </p><p>“I had a good teacher,” Cathy responded, wincing as she touched the wound on her head. “Jane, heal Catherine so she can help with healing everyone else. Cleves, help me stabilize Kat,” she ordered. “Anne-”</p><p> </p><p>“You just <em>teleported</em>-”</p><p> </p><p>“ANNE!” Cathy snapped Anne from her thoughts. “I know, for once, the last thing you want to do is think, but that’s <em>really</em> what we need right now.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne stopped and nodded, sitting down and pulling out paper to make notes. The others worked quietly to heal each other as best they could as Anne scratched away at the papers with her quill, muttering under her breath and scratching things out with a huff.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, with the party all at least stabilized, and Kat not on the verge of death, lying asleep in Cleves’ arms, the remaining members of the Six turned to Anne, who hesitated, before jotting down one last note.</p><p> </p><p>“What have you got?” Cathy asked.</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s eyes flicked up to Aragon’s. “You’re not going to like it.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon didn’t have it in her to respond in the sarcastic way she normally would. “I just nearly killed my daughter. I am open to suggestions.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that was idea number one, but I already crossed it out. No one is killing anyone’s daughter,” Anne said to Aragon’s visible relief. “We have to find a way to get Mary off the throne, but that’s the easy part.”</p><p> </p><p>“Anne, we just almost died.”</p><p> </p><p>“We weren’t prepared. None of us knew she had the help she had.”</p><p> </p><p>“You mean your sister?” Cathy said gently and Anne winced.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, all of the Marys are coming out of the woodwork it seems,” Anne responded flatly.</p><p> </p><p>Privately, Anne was less concerned about her sister; Mary had always forged her own path, and look where it had gotten her: at the whim of a sociopathic archmage and a zealot. She was more worried about her brother, who wasn’t present in the fight.</p><p> </p><p><em>I look forward to when you see him again. George has grown so much since you left.</em> Her sister’s words, whispered from across the room in a Message only she could hear, echoed in her mind. She shook her head to clear it. Now wasn’t the time to voice those worries.</p><p> </p><p>“But not just her. Ikathon,” she growled, and Parr stiffened at the name. “Ikathon is a problem.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves spoke quietly to not disturb the bard sleeping in her arms. “That bastard almost made me kill Kat.” They all shuddered at the memory of Cleves striking her axe at Kat’s unsuspecting head, stopped only by Parr’s quick Dispel Magic. “I had no control over myself,” she began, the guilt clear in her voice, but Anne cut her off.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay, Cleves. We all know you would never do anything to hurt her,” Anne said firmly. Cleves gave her a relieved smile. “He messed with your mind. That’s not your fault, and Kat knows that too, or she wouldn’t let you touch her now.”</p><p> </p><p>“So, if facing off again against these <em>very powerful people</em> isn’t the hard part,” Cathy said, pulling them back on track, “Then what is?”</p><p> </p><p>“The Empire,” Aragon cut in, and Anne nodded. “The Empire has been ruled by the Line of Dwendal for countless centuries. Finding someone to be accepted by the people as the heir-”</p><p> </p><p>“Is not impossible,” Anne interrupted. Aragon looked at her in disbelief. “Difficult,” Anne allowed, “but not impossible.”</p><p> </p><p>“There are no other heirs to Henry’s line besides Mary! Where do you think we’re going to find another Dwendal?” Aragon demanded.</p><p> </p><p>Anne looked away, down at the paper in her hands, her fingers running lightly over the last thing she had written. Cathy could tell she was debating something with herself. That sort of pause before she revealed something about her past. Rare, but precious information she would give up, always preceded by this moment of contemplation.</p><p> </p><p>She was startled out of her study of the rogue by Jane, who had been quiet since the discussion began.</p><p> </p><p>“I might have…well, not an answer, but a possible lead,” she said quietly. They all turned to look at her. “My son, Edward.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon frowned. “I thought he died in childbirth.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane wouldn’t meet her eyes. “He didn’t die.”</p><p> </p><p>“I gave him up.”</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Suddenly See More</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“My whole life has been ruled by men. First by my father and brothers. Thomas was the kindest of them,” Jane glanced at Cathy, who looked back at her sadly, “But even that is a generous description. Then I was sent to court, where they hoped to gain some sort of favor with the king. And I did, and later when he was, erm… angry with Anne, he would call on me.” She glanced at Anne. “You looked like you were trying to keep him away from you anyway, so I didn’t think it could hurt.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne smiled. “It helped a lot, thank you, Jane.”</p><p> </p><p>“So he married me, he sent Anne away. With Henry-” Jane shrugged. “I thought I loved him. I thought he loved me. But now, knowing what that actually feels like,” she glanced at Aragon, then back at her hands, “I know it was nowhere close.”</p><p> </p><p>“But I did end up pregnant. Trapped again, shut behind closed doors, with no communication with the outside world. It seemed, no matter what happened, no matter what I did, there was always someone more powerful than I, ready to make me feel helpless.”</p><p> </p><p>“The night before I gave birth, I went out to the balcony, where a storm was roaring.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh Jane, not to-”</p><p> </p><p>“Gods no, nothing so drastic. I looked up into the dark sky and just asked for help.” She smiled wryly. “To my surprise, I actually got an answer.”</p><p> </p><p>“The Stormlord?” Aragon asked.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Jane answered. “A different voice crackled in the storm, but thundered in my head, asking me what I would do to escape from Henry. I said anything.”</p><p> </p><p>She hesitated. “I…hope you understand. I didn’t view the baby as anything but Henry’s. It was all he would talk about, about this child who would be the most powerful mage in existence, to ensure that the Dwendalian line continued with Mary’s leadership, and his son’s arcane power.” She shut her eyes. “I kept reminding myself this was <em>Henry’s</em> child, not mine.”</p><p> </p><p>“So when the voice in my mind asked if I would give up my child, I said yes.”</p><p> </p><p>“The next day, I gave birth. He was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. He looked nothing like Henry, but the wisps of my pale hair and the Seymour eyes.” Tears streamed down her face now as she continued. “And before I could say I had changed my mind, that I wouldn’t give him up, a figure cloaked in black appeared at my side and wrenched him from my grasp, before disappearing once more.”</p><p> </p><p>“When Henry entered to find the baby gone, he screamed and shouted and rushed me. I slashed a dagger across his face, and hit him with lightning from my hands.” Jane clasped her hands tightly. “I couldn’t do that before. Then I ran away from the castle, and never looked back.”</p><p> </p><p>There was a stunned silence as they all processed this new information.</p><p> </p><p>Kat finally broke the silence. “So that’s why he had that gash across his face. Gods, he said it was an accident cutting the umbilical cord! We should have known better," she laughed. "Oh to have seen the look on his face!”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves grinned, picking up on Kat’s line of thought. “And hey, you got away, that’s amazing, Jane! My understanding is I was pretty lucky that I got away with what I did.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr nodded. “You were. I saw how he was with Jane and Catherine and it was awful.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon looked troubled but said nothing. Jane looked at her, pleading. “I do regret it now. I’m trying to find him, but-”</p><p> </p><p>“But you gave him up.” Everyone turned to face Anne, whose body was quivering with rage, her eyes burning with a fury, unlike anything they’d ever seen. “You <em>GAVE UP</em> YOUR SON TO SOME <em>CREATURE</em>?” she roared, flying at Jane.</p><p> </p><p>Anne grabbed Jane by the neck and slammed her to the ground, landing a solid hit across the blonde’s face before the others were able to pull her off. “How DARE you?” Anne snarled.</p><p> </p><p>Jane sat up, touching a throbbing cheek. “You’re no <em>mother</em>,” Anne continued, wrenching herself from the others' grasp, but making no move to approach Jane again. “You all call <em>me </em>a child? That’s <em>NOTHING</em> compared to her.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy spoke up, trying to deescalate the situation. “Jane needed to get out of there, she had no choice-”</p><p> </p><p>“THERE IS <em>ALWAYS</em> A CHOICE,” Anne roared. “And giving up your <em>child</em> to some…<em>THING</em> in exchange for power is <em>despicable</em>.” There was a tense silence before Anne stalked away.</p><p> </p><p>Kat began to go after her when Aragon intervened. “Let’s give her a bit to cool down,” she says quietly, watching the rogue pull herself into a tree. “I’ll talk to her later.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, the other four women turned back to try to comfort the sobbing, blonde…</p><p> </p><p>Warlock.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Aragon somehow managed to pull herself up into the tree where Anne had been sitting for the past few hours. “I don’t see how you two do it,” she grumbled, before settling next to the rogue on the thick branch. Anne didn’t look at her.</p><p> </p><p>“This is usually Cathy’s type of place to brood,” Aragon said lightly, trying to draw out a response. Anne didn’t rise to the bait. Aragon sighed and looked out into the night.</p><p> </p><p>“I agree with you, you know,” she said quietly. Anne did look sideways at her at that. “Not with hitting Jane,” Aragon clarified. “But giving your child up like that…” She shook her head. “It’s one thing to give a child you can’t take care of to a family or place that can take care of them. But to just…give it to some entity in a storm? I simply don’t understand it. No mother could.” Aragon gave her a sad smile. “Though I suppose I don’t need to preach about motherhood to you, do I, Anne?”</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean,?” Anne asked, stone-faced, her expression unreadable.</p><p> </p><p>“That sort of rage about what Jane did? Either you were left as a child, which Kat already told me isn’t true, or you have a child yourself.” Aragon looked out into the darkness. “I don’t have the greatest instincts when it comes to many things, but when it comes to spotting a fellow mother? It’s not hard to see in you.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne sighed, not bothering to deny it. “Are you going to tell them?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon shook her head. “That’s your story to tell. But Anne, I’m here, alright? If you want to talk about your child. Or anything else.” Aragon offered Anne her forearm, and Anne gratefully clasped it.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t stay up too late,” Aragon called up as she maneuvered her way down the tree.</p><p> </p><p>Anne pulled out a blue piece of cloth and wrapped it around her hand. “Will do,” she answered.</p><p> </p><p>A raven landed next to her. Anne rolled her eyes. “A little late this time, buddy.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>For those who are not well versed in D&amp;D lore, a quick guide to magic users:</p><p>Divine magic users, as Aragon explained, get their power through the gods. This includes Clerics and Paladins.</p><p>I won't get into druids and rangers, as we don't have any in this story, but their magic is mostly nature-based.</p><p>Bards get their magic through some form of storytelling and/or music.</p><p>Sorcerers (Henry is a Sorcerer and we'll meet another one later) get their power from some inherent ability in their blood/lineage, such as a dragon ancestor.</p><p>Wizards gain their knowledge through intense study.</p><p>Some Fighters and Rogues can gain magic through the same means as Wizards, but at a much lower power level.</p><p>Warlocks are different. Their magic comes from a "Pact" made with a "Patron." These can vary, from a magical sword, an eldritch god like Cthulhu, or a celestial being. Their power works very differently than the others. Celestial Pact Warlocks can sometimes pass as clerics or druids due to their ability to heal.</p><p>Also, side note, I feel like everyone talks about Aragon and Jane being mothers, but forgets that Parr and Anne were also mothers. I've glossed over Parr's daughter because of how little we know about her, but tried to pay homage to her by giving Parr her familiar, the falcon Mae.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Secrets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Only Aragon knew why Anne was so upset with Jane, and everyone knew it.</p><p> </p><p>This was causing problems on many fronts.</p><p> </p><p>“Catherine, why is this such a big issue?” Cathy demanded as they took watch together, mixing up the usual watch pairs. “You know this is messing with your and Jane’s relationship, and Anne is just being cruel at this point!”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not my story to tell,” Aragon said, and Cathy faltered at that, remembering another watch, another conversation, from what seemed like a lifetime ago. “And honestly, I think Jane understands that, even if she's upset with me for not telling her.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy sighed. “Can you really blame her?”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine shrugged. “Do you feel angry at Anne for not telling you about Kat before Kat was ready?”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy frowned. “No, of course not. And that’s a very different type of relationship.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon grit her teeth and prayed to Pelor for patience. “Of course. My mistake.”</p><p> </p><p>“Aren’t you even a bit concerned about Anne volunteering to take a watch with Jane?”</p><p> </p><p>To be honest, Catherine <em>was</em> a little concerned, but less for the pair’s safety, and more for the potential for a deeper rift to form in the night. “In a way,” she allowed. “But my hope is that they’ll work it out better just the two of them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmph,” Parr grunted. “Well,<em> I’m</em> worried.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Jane and Anne were taking watch.</p><p> </p><p>Well, that was the intention at least.</p><p> </p><p>Jane knew she needed to clear things up with Anne. The rogue’s bad side was not a place she liked being. “Anne, I regret what I did. And I tried to protect you in court,” she said pleadingly.</p><p> </p><p>Anne rolled her eyes. “I took care of myself just fine, thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>“And when Henry tried to have you killed?” Jane challenged, and Anne stiffened.</p><p> </p><p>“How do you know about that?” she snapped.</p><p> </p><p>“Because I’m the one who convinced him to send you to Tal’Dorei to train as an ambassador instead.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s eyes widened. “You<em> what</em>?” she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Jane sighed. “He came to me in a rage, something about you and your brother plotting to kill him, and-” she stopped when Anne grabbed her by the cloak pulling the blonde's face level with hers, eyes desperate.</p><p> </p><p>“Seymour, <em>what happened to George</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>The others awoke to see Anne and Jane, thankfully, still in one piece.</p><p> </p><p>But somehow, the tension between them had gotten worse.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” Cathy asked, exasperated. “How on earth did things get WORSE?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne glared at Jane. “Would you like to tell her or should I?” she asked, her voice clipped and cold, and Jane’s shoulders slumped.</p><p> </p><p>“We have a destination,” the warlock said quietly, picking up her staff. “The Candles.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr paled. “Why?” she managed.</p><p> </p><p>Jane couldn't look at any of them. Anne glared at her for another moment before addressing Cathy.</p><p> </p><p>“Because the Cerberus Assembly has my brother,” she jerked her thumb at Jane. “On Seymour's orders.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. My Brother’s Keeper</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They knew it would be difficult. It had taken more cunning than they were used to employing just to sneak into The Candles, but they managed. Taking out the guards to the dungeons where they had discovered Anne’s brother was being held, was a challenge.</p><p> </p><p>But now, face to face with the broken, giant, twisted form of what remained of George Boleyn, The Six realized the true challenge had only just begun.</p><p> </p><p>He stood at well over 9 feet tall, pale skin a sickly green around the stitches that held his form together, every movement pure agony as he groaned in pain, green energy swirling around his eyes and hands. His supernaturally thick frame was muscular in ways that seemed impossible, and they watched in horror as he ripped free from his chains to charge at the group.</p><p> </p><p>They scattered.</p><p> </p><p>“George!” Anne cried. “Please, it’s Anne!”</p><p> </p><p>His rage was so intense, it was as though he couldn’t hear.</p><p> </p><p>They fought, trapped in this dungeon, the guards held at bay where Parr was keeping the door sealed, sweat dripping from her brow as she held it shut with her magic. The others tried desperately to subdue the swollen form of what was left of George, who swatted away their blows with ease.</p><p> </p><p>But it only took looking in his eyes to see the silent screaming agony of a man not in control of himself, who was in so much pain, it would be a wonder if he had maintained any sanity at all.</p><p> </p><p>Jane, who generally tried to stay out of reach of their enemies and attacking from afar, found herself grasped by the neck, held aloft, staring into a pair of solid green orbs that begged for forgiveness, tears streaming down his face, not matching the feral, grinning snarl on his lips.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon screamed from where she was being held by magic against the wall. Jane braced herself, waiting to die, when she felt his grip slacken, and she was dropped in a heap to the floor. She looked up to see the green glow fade from his eyes to reveal eyes the same brilliant green hue as their rogue friend.</p><p> </p><p>The friend that stood behind her giant brother, rapier wedged firmly in his back, jutting out his front through the stomach.</p><p> </p><p>She pulled her sword from him, catching him with a grunt as he fell back into her arms. “Annie?” he whispered, lighting up with recognition.</p><p> </p><p>She laughed through her tears, stroking what remained of his brown hair. “Hey, Georgie,” she said softly.</p><p> </p><p>“You got away,” he breathed.</p><p> </p><p>She nodded. “I did.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good.” He shuddered in her arms. “Anne, I can’t hold this back much longer.” His eyes flickered with sickly green energy and his body spasmed.</p><p> </p><p>“What do I do?” she asked desperately.</p><p> </p><p>“Please,” he ground out, fighting to keep at bay the magic that controlled him. “End it.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne shook her head. “No, there has to be another way!”</p><p> </p><p>“Anne,” he whispered, taking her dagger and placing it in her hand, pulling it to his heart. “I can’t hurt anyone else. No more. Please, <em>frangine</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>She hesitated. His eyes flickered again, and she sank the dagger down, eyes trained on his the entire time, holding him steady as his body shuddered. He gasped in pain, tensing, then smiled in relief. “<em>Merci</em>, Nan,” he murmured before slumping in her arms.</p><p> </p><p>The others approached. The door holding back the guard would not hold much longer. “Anne,” Cathy said, voice strained. “We have to leave.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne nodded. She looked up at Jane, who met her gaze, regret etched into every line of her body.</p><p> </p><p>Anne's eyes hardened and her tears dried.</p><p> </p><p>“You took my brother,” she said quietly, before reaching into the Bag of Colding hanging at her side. “And I took yours.” She took out two objects and tossed them at the blonde’s feet. "We're even."</p><p> </p><p>They were two hands bloody hands. Hands that Jane would recognize anywhere.</p><p> </p><p>“It was you?” she breathed.</p><p> </p><p>Parr put together the pieces as well. “Anne-?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne gently closed her brother’s eyes and set him down on the ground.</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s go,” she said. “This isn’t the place.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. The Raven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You <em>killed</em> him?” Parr cried.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I tortured him first, but yes.”</p><p> </p><p>“ANNE!”</p><p> </p><p>They were gathered in a large room in an inn. Kat and Cleves had wisely moved as far away from the arguing parties as they could, both ready to intervene if the argument should turn physical.</p><p> </p><p>Jane cut in. “That’s a serious accusation you left him with, Anne,” she said in a low voice. “Were you sure?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne met her eyes. “Completely.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon shook her head. “What gave you the right to render that judgment?” she snapped.</p><p> </p><p>“She had every right.” A strange voice interrupted the argument and the women gathered all jumped into defensive positions, swords drawn, magic swirling.</p><p> </p><p>“Who said that?” Aragon yelled.</p><p> </p><p>A figure blinked into existence before them, dressed all in black, hood covering his features. “Thomas deserved everything Anne did and more,” the man said quietly, “Just as much as Baran deserved her wrath.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat’s eyes widened with recognition and she cautiously approached. “Is that you?” she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>The Man in Black smiled. “Hello, Katherine.”</p><p> </p><p>He took down his hood, revealing the mess of black and blonde hair. “You!” Cathy exclaimed.</p><p> </p><p>The Six turned to look at her. “He’s been helping me with my magic since I could talk!” she said.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re a very good student,” he said with an easy smile.</p><p> </p><p>His eyes flicked over to Cleves. “You’re much bigger than the last time I saw you,” he said quietly, “But I made sure the wolf with the torn ear would take care of you before I left.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves’ jaw dropped. “It was you…?”</p><p> </p><p>He glanced at Anne, before waving a hand. They watched as a single black raven’s feather slowly fell in front of her.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re the raven?” Anne whispered. A few silver pieces followed, clinking into her hands.</p><p> </p><p>"The Elvish book was not very expensive," he said, and the rogue's eyes widened, "and I cannot keep this coin."</p><p> </p><p>Aragon, not convinced, raised her sword to just touch under his chin. “Talk. Now. What is your name?”</p><p> </p><p>He gave Aragon a warm smile, as though she didn’t have a longsword leveled at his neck.</p><p> </p><p>“My name is Edward,” he said, his blue eyes meeting Jane’s awestruck stare, “And I have come to meet my mother.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I. Love. Telling. Stories.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Absolution</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were tears. There were explanations. There were revelations.</p><p> </p><p>Edward had a hand in all of their lives. From working on magic with Cathy as her closest friend, growing up together, to teaching Katherine music in the brothel, warning Anne of ill tidings and helping her reach her cousin, and giving Cleves the pack by which she would learn to define family.</p><p> </p><p>He was a time-jumper, sent by the Stormlord through moments in time to be what they needed most, to help them in their lives in what ways he could, in the ways he was allowed.</p><p> </p><p>“Didn’t help me much, did you?” Aragon said, trying to use humor to buy herself time to understand what was happening.</p><p> </p><p>He looked at her. “You’ve always wanted to understand your daughter,” he said quietly. “How are those dreams coming?”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon’s face crumpled. “They’re real?” she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” he answered. “At least, from her point of view.” Parr hugged her godmother, knowing Jane needed to be present right now.</p><p> </p><p>Jane, who had been staring at Edward since he had revealed himself. “I’m sorry,” she finally whispered.</p><p> </p><p>The Edward looked at her, sitting across the room, and with a flash, he was a baby, crawling towards her, then a child walking, a teenager running, a man coming to a halt before her.</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” he said quietly. “I resented you at first. But the life I lead?” He waved his hand to gesture towards the other women present. “I can help people like no other. The Celestial you gave me to, he and the Stormlord have helped me to help your friends, our <em>family, </em> and <em>so </em>many others.” He hugged her and she gripped him tight. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”</p><p> </p><p>Still holding his mother, he turned his head to face the others. “I can’t stay long,” he said quietly. His eyes met Anne’s. “It’s time, Anne.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” she said, her exhaustion leaking into her voice. She turned to the group. “How do we feel about doing some research?”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. There is Another</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I never thought I’d see the day Anne Boleyn willingly did research,” Parr joked.</p><p> </p><p>They were all still reeling at the revelations from the hour before. Edward and Jane had gone to speak a while in the other room. When they returned, Jane looked lighter than before, despite the tear tracks she had tried to wipe away gleaming on her cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>Edward had given Jane and Kat each one last hug before turning to a raven, pecking Anne’s nose, and flying away, out the open window.</p><p> </p><p>Now they were walking down the streets of Rexxentrum, headed towards the Cobalt Reserve. “Sometimes, people aren’t what they seem,” Anne responded. She didn’t have to look at Jane for the warlock to know that the remark was aimed at her. She shrank a little, and Aragon glared at Anne.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s enough, Anne,” she warned.</p><p> </p><p>Anne didn’t respond.</p><p> </p><p>Kat piped up. “So, why are we going to the Cobalt Reserve?”</p><p> </p><p>“‘<em>Research</em>,’” Cleves quoted with a groan.</p><p> </p><p>Anne laughed. “It won’t be that bad.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr glanced at the sun, which had almost completely set. “Don’t they have visiting hours or something?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. But I have an in.”</p><p> </p><p>“Let me guess, Beau?” Parr asked, rolling her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Anne smirked. “There’s more to me than the women I’ve slept with, Cathy.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy was saved from having to think of a response by their arrival to the Reserve itself.</p><p> </p><p>Anne strode up to the desk, where an older elvish worker was putting some papers away. He glared up at her over half-moon spectacles. “Can I help you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Please let Manser know that Nan is here,” she said. The man opened his mouth to argue. “It’s an emergency, <em>monsieur</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>The man narrowed his eyes, but made a quick motion with his hands and began to speak. “Manser, there’s a ‘Nan’ here to see you? She says it’s urgent. She’s brought,” his nose wrinkled as he took in the Six’s disheveled appearance. “Friends.”</p><p> </p><p>He waited a moment before his eyes widened and his face paled. “I am so sorry, <em>madame</em>, please, come this way.”</p><p> </p><p>He led the curious party up through the library past the guards through the archways leading to the monastery. He stopped at the base of a set of spiraling stairs. “She said to leave you here,” he said nervously, before hurrying off.</p><p> </p><p>“Anne?” Kat asked uncertainly. Anne shook her head silently. <em>Not now</em>.</p><p> </p><p>A blonde woman in sleeveless blue robes, pale, with pointy elven ears, came down the stairs, and seeing Anne, rushed forward, hugging the rogue, who winced, pain shooting through her unhealed injuries, but hugged her back. “Thank the gods,” the woman said pulling back to study Anne. “We heard you had faced off with Mary and thought the worst.” She subtly glanced at the five watching them. “And these are…?”</p><p> </p><p>“The Six,” Anne replied, “They can be trusted.”</p><p> </p><p>Manser nodded. “I’ll go get…?” she phrased it almost as a question. Anne nodded. “Come with me,” Manser said, addressing the baffled women, leading them up the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>They reached a long room that had two other doorways, a table and some chairs. A meeting room of some sort.</p><p> </p><p>“Anne,” Kat said, after the monk left. “What is going on?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne didn’t respond as they heard the thudding of running feet racing toward them. Anne grinned, a full, genuine smile, the first they'd seen since Jane’s confession, and whirled around in time to watch the door slam open, catching the leaping seven-year-old in her arms, the girl a little taller than the last time she’d visited, and now sporting an undercut.</p><p> </p><p>“Mama!” she cried and Anne whirled her around with a carefree laugh, before hugging her close. The other women watched on in shock.</p><p> </p><p>Except for Aragon. She just smiled as she saw, though the girl had Henry’s hair, this child was clearly all Anne.</p><p> </p><p>The rogue finally propped her daughter on her hip and brought her over to the party. “Lizzie,” she said, “This is Kat.”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie waved at Kat. “Hi!” she said with a wide grin. “Mama said not to touch, but can I see your Kazoo?”</p><p> </p><p>Kat shook off her amazement to go to Lizzie, reaching out her arms. Anne passed her over and Lizzie gave a noise of delight as she hugged the aunt she had heard so much about. “Hi, Aunt Kat,” she said, holding her carefully.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi, Lizzie,” Kat said looking over the girl's shoulder at Anne, mouthing, <em>Y</em><em>our daughter?</em> Anne nodded. "You can see see the Kazoo later if you like."</p><p> </p><p>Kat set Lizzie on the ground. She scanned the rest of the women present.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re Catherine of Aragon, Paladin of Pelor, Mother of the Queen,” Lizzie said formally, moving to stand in front of Aragon.</p><p> </p><p>The paladin smiled. “Yes, that’s right.”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie smirked. “And the greatest queen the Empire ever had.”</p><p> </p><p>“LIZZIE!”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine laughed. “Did your mother tell you that?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie nodded as they heard Anne huff behind them. “She said you once took control of an army because Henry couldn’t be bothered, and sent him the severed head of the opposing army’s general.”</p><p> </p><p>“You <em>WHAT</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine ruffled the child’s hair glancing at her startled goddaughter, who looked ready to burst from information overload. “That’s true,” she said, “but maybe we keep some of these stories for later, okay?” Lizzie nodded.</p><p> </p><p>She looked to the next woman. “You’re Cleves.” Cleves nodded. “<em>Mama sagte, du bist wirklich stark und cool, mit der Kraft einer Frau und der Seele eines Wolfes</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves’ eyes widened, not just at the flawless Zemnian, but at how Anne had described her. “<em>Ich gebe mein Bestes, Kind,</em>” she said slowly.</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie shifted her attention to Parr. They all watched, Anne hiding her blushing face behind one hand, as Lizzie circled Cathy like a vulture, studying her. Parr accepted the scrutiny, uncertain of how to respond.</p><p> </p><p>Manser spoke before anyone else could. “Think <em>very</em> carefully before you speak, Lizzie.”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie grinned, before finally approaching Parr. “You’re Cathy Parr,” she said simply, “And I’ve heard a lot about you.”</p><p> </p><p>She turned back to her mother who was already approaching, taking her by the shoulders and steering her away from a flustered Cathy to meet Jane.</p><p> </p><p>“Elizabeth, this is Jane Seymour,” Anne said, her tone serious. “Your godmother.” Jane’s eyes flew to meet Anne’s. Anne looked back calmly and smiled in a way that let her know two things.</p><p> </p><p>That she was forgiven.</p><p> </p><p>And that they would discuss this later.</p><p> </p><p>Jane knelt down to be at eye level. “It is very nice to meet you, Lizzie,” Jane said softly. Lizzie held her arms out for a hug, which Jane quickly accepted.</p><p> </p><p>“She said you give really good hugs,” Lizzie whispered, and Jane laughed.</p><p> </p><p>“Between you and me, I think she prefers Parr’s, but mine are alright,” she whispered back so no one else could hear, and they both giggled.</p><p> </p><p>“Already plotting,” Anne said, shaking her head.</p><p> </p><p>She picked her daughter back up. “This is quite the haircut, <em>ma vie</em>. Was this your idea?” her eyes slid over to where Manser stood smirking “...or Manser’s?”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie giggled. “Mine, Mama. It was too hot, but I still wanted hair. I’m not <em>Dairon,</em> you know.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm, quite right. Well, it looks very cool.” She ruffled her hair, Lizzie giggling and swatting at her hands.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that explains why you’re so good with kids,” Cathy said, still trying to wrap her head around this new information.</p><p> </p><p>“She always was,” said an unfamiliar voice from the doorway they had just entered.</p><p> </p><p>Another elven woman stepped through, shutting the door behind her. She wore black and purple robes that reached the ground, and had an air of confidence and power. Her tan skin seemed almost ageless, and her dark eyes were filled with mirth.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s good to see you, Anne. You put that spell scroll to good use, I hope?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne grinned. “Hello, Mouat. Yes, I did.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A) You knew if I was going to have Manser and Stapleton, we HAD to have Mouat, right? XD She's the sorcerer I alluded to in an earlier chapter note.</p><p>B) Yes, the title of this chapter is a blatant Star Wars reference and I have NO regrets</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Seeking Security</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anne did NOT like this plan.</p><p> </p><p>When Mouat had explained that they needed this strange, elusive dragon’s blessing for Lizzie to ascend the throne, The Six had immediately balked at the idea.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s a <em>child</em>,” Aragon protested. “What about Edward?”</p><p> </p><p>Jane shook her head. “He tried to explain it to me. He said he became an Aasimar when I made my pact, and that Henry’s blood is no longer in his veins. And because he’s always popping in and out of time,” she shrugged, “he could never fulfill the role of King anyway.”</p><p> </p><p>“But a dragon?” Anne said skeptically.</p><p> </p><p>Mouat looked at her. “You knew this was a possibility when you gave birth, Anne.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, that Lizzie might have to take the throne, but no one mentioned taking my seven-year-old daughter to face a <em>dragon</em>,” Anne retorted.</p><p> </p><p>Mouat looked at her, with the calm eyes of a woman who had dealt with Anne Boleyn’s temper many times. “The Dragon’s Mark cannot be faked, and will be respected, regardless of any attempts to claim illegitimacy. This is the safest way, and you know it.”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie squeezed her mother’s hand. “Maybe it’s a nice dragon!” she said cheerfully.</p><p> </p><p>Anne squeezed back but glared at Mouat. “It would seem I’m outvoted,” she said quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon stood next to her. “We’re with you,” she said, and Anne sighed in defeat, but smiled her appreciation at the fellow mother's support.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>But now, traveling on the road, her daughter bundled up in Cleves’ arms-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>(No one knew how or why, but the two had gotten along like a house on fire from the moment Lizzie climbed onto the barbarian’s shoulders for the first time, trying to balance standing up on them, to Cleves delight, hurling Zemnian curses together into the wind.)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Anne was worried.</p><p> </p><p>She trusted the group with her life. She trusted Mouat, who had helped raise her, she trusted Lizzie. But they didn’t even know what kind of dragon this <em>was</em>. They had nothing to go on beyond ‘dragon who lives near a small town at the southernmost tip of the continent.’</p><p> </p><p>Parr sat next to her, back from her study time. “You’re thinking too much.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne snorted. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy grinned. “I never thought I’d be saying it to you.” Her gaze softened. “But you <em>are</em> thinking too much. We’re not going to kill this dragon, we’re going to get it’s blessing.”</p><p> </p><p>“But-”</p><p> </p><p>“No buts,” Cathy said firmly. “If the Mark is something that will hurt Lizzie, we will all do whatever it takes to get her out. You know that.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne did. But hearing Cathy say it made it seem more real. “Thank you,” she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“Any time.” Parr frowned. “She had an interesting reaction to me.”</p><p> </p><p>It took all of Anne’s training not to flinch. “Yeah, she’s a strange one. Takes after me.”</p><p> </p><p>“She's 'heard a lot about me', huh?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne shrugged. “I mean, you’re pretty cool I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>“'Pretty cool?'” Cathy rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Boleyn.”</p><p> </p><p>“Just take what you can get, Parr.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t until later, as they rested on the long road south, watching Anne as she helped Lizzie into a tree, ready to catch her if she slipped, that Cathy felt something clench in her gut.</p><p> </p><p>The missing pieces that kept her from seeing Anne, from understanding the enigmatic rogue completely, all fell into place.</p><p> </p><p>Her knack with children, the worn blue cloth, the way she always faced towards Rexxentrum when she was on watch, staring into the night, despite her sole reliance on hearing in her awareness of danger at night. All of those were explained by Lizzie.</p><p> </p><p>But everything else-</p><p> </p><p>The rogue slipping her extra books, carrying her for longer than seemed truly possible or reasonable, the way she always knew when Cathy needed to be held or left alone, the teasing smile she only directed at the wizard, and the way she kept an eye out for Cathy reacting in ways that meant there was an Assembly member nearby…</p><p> </p><p>That wasn’t because of Lizzy.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy froze from where she was sitting next to Jane as it all hit her at once, and let out a strangled “Excuse me,” before jumping to her feet and running away.</p><p> </p><p>Jane frowned. “What was that all about?” she asked Catherine.</p><p> </p><p>The paladin shrugged. “Who knows?”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Anne had feelings for her.</p><p> </p><p>And Pelor, Kord, and all the gods help her-</p><p> </p><p>Cathy Parr was head over heels in love with Anne Boleyn.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*Aragon voice* FINALLY</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. The Dragon of the South</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They reached a town so small, the folk that lived there hadn’t even bothered with a name. The Six quickly learned that there was no inn, so they would have to stay the night just outside of town.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s alright,” Anne said. “Lizzie seems to like the outdoors.” She paused, looking around. “Cleves,” she said in a tight voice, “Where is my daughter?”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves froze and realized that the small redhead was not standing beside her. “<em>Scheisse</em>,” she hissed.</p><p> </p><p>They all looked around frantically and Jane caught a flash of cobalt blue turn into an alley. “There!” she exclaimed, leading the way.</p><p> </p><p>They all stopped short at what they saw. Lizzie had somehow <em>climbed up a sheer wall</em> to reach a woman standing on the edge of the tallest building in the town. The woman looked like she wanted to launch herself over the side, but Lizzie held her hand, speaking to her quietly.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that woman-” Aragon whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“Suicidal,” Cathy said, in a tone that said she knew the signs from experience. Kat wrapped an arm around her, offering silent comfort.</p><p> </p><p>Anne watched the conversation play out, ready to catch anyone who might come down too fast, knowing Kat could slow them too.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, the woman knelt down next to Lizzie, and Lizzie hugged her tightly. The woman said something that made the girl pull back in surprise, and the woman gave her a small smirk, before they both disappeared in a cloud of golden smoke.</p><p> </p><p>“What the <em>fuck?</em>” Anne shouted, trying to see through the smoke at the awkward angle. “LIZZIE!”</p><p> </p><p>“Language, <em>madame</em>,” said the voice of the woman from earlier, an arm draped around Lizzie’s shoulder. “Your daughter is present.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s rapier was drawn in a flash, the other Six readying themselves as well. The woman looked young, and was about Anne’s height, with black hair and a strange lilt to her voice. She had a silver ring piercing her septum above full lips drawn in a playful smile. Her eyes flashed gold. “You <em>were</em> looking for the Dragon of the South, were you not?”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie grinned at their shocked expressions. “This is Alicia! And I was right, she <em>is</em> a nice dragon.”</p><p> </p><p>Alicia nodded. “I try to be,” she said. “It is nice to meet the Queens at last.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne shook herself out of her daze. “We were told there would be a test.”</p><p> </p><p>Alicia nodded. “Yes, and Elizabeth passed with flying colors. Though what that test was,” she said, tapping Lizzie on the nose, “shall remain between us.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait,” Cleves interrupted. “I thought dragons were giant flying creatures that breathed fire?”</p><p> </p><p>Alicia shrugged. “I can take many forms, Anna of Cleves. But I find that I like this one when I am trying to be friendly.” She arched a brow at the barbarian. “Though I <em>could</em> turn into such a beast if you would like to die today?”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves looked ready to accept the dare before Kat grabbed her arm. “<em>No</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves sighed. “No, that’s alright.”</p><p> </p><p>Alicia ran a finger over Lizzie’s forehead. “She is Marked. All will know her as Queen.”</p><p> </p><p>They all squinted and looked, but the child's forehead looked unchanged.</p><p> </p><p>“There’s nothing there,” Jane said, stating what they were all thinking.</p><p> </p><p>“It does not take a symbol to know that she is a Queen,” Alicia said with a knowing smile. She knelt down to address Lizzie. “Lead them well, Elizabeth,” she said. Lizzie nodded.</p><p> </p><p>As the women passed the dragon standing still in the alley, Parr paused, the last to leave. “Before,” she said quietly. “You called us the Queens.”</p><p> </p><p>Alicia nodded. “You would be the one to pick that up,” she said.</p><p> </p><p>“I was never married to Henry. I am no queen.”</p><p> </p><p>“Perhaps not in this reality, Survivor,” Alicia responded, tapping her forehead and Parr saw flashes of lives, hers but not.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Long flowing gowns and jewels and books-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Flashing lights and a crowd of people gathered to hear the songs and tales-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Of Six.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“But you are a Queen in all of the others. And in your own way, here as well.”</p><p> </p><p>“I was right?” Cathy whispered, staring at the dragon.</p><p> </p><p>“There <em>are</em> other realities, Catherine Parr, yes. As for how to reach them?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’ll figure it out.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, Alicia is a reference to Alicia Corrales-Connor. No I don't have a deep reasoning for it, I just think she's neat.</p><p>And yes, thank you Matthew Mercer for introducing me to the beauty of enhancing one's storytelling by injecting the possibility of multiple realties, a concept already inherent in fanfiction.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. The Last Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the last evening before they would reach Rexxentrum. They were making camp, and Aragon nudged Jane. “If you don’t ask her now, you might never know,” she said quietly. Jane gulped, but nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“Anne? Can we talk?” The rogue looked up from where she was wrestling with Lizzie.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure.”</p><p> </p><p>They walked a little ways away from the group before Jane whirled to face Anne. “Why me?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne blinked. “Sorry?”</p><p> </p><p>“I am responsible for your brother’s death, for your sister’s turn to Ikathon, and you have made it perfectly clear that you don’t trust me after I told you about giving up Edward, so <em>why in Kord’s name</em> would you make me Lizzie’s godmother?”</p><p> </p><p>Jane was near tears at the end of her outburst. Anne studied her for a moment, before pulling the warlock into her arms.</p><p> </p><p>“You didn’t know what Henry was going to do to George. Mary made her own choices, she’s been awful since we were little.” She pulled back to look Jane in the eye. “And I do trust you. I trust you to do what it takes to survive, and that you’ve learned to extend that to help others, and that over the past two and a half years, ‘others’ has become the rest of the Six.”</p><p> </p><p>“By making you Lizzie’s godmother, I’m asking you to add Elizabeth to that list. Because while I know that all of them would die for her,” she wiped away Jane’s tears. “I know <em>you</em> would <em>live</em> for her.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane understood. In that moment, she understood perfectly what Anne was asking. And that it <em>was</em> a request, and she knew this could mean anything else if Jane couldn’t or wouldn’t do it, but that Anne, <em>Anne</em>, who had taken so long to truly open up to them, to fully trust them, truly believed Jane could and would do this, that she would take on this responsibility.</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” she said with a watery laugh, “in that case, it would be my honor.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Kat and Cleves were off playing with the dogs in a field, just far away enough from the others to be alone, but close enough to able to come running should they be needed.</p><p> </p><p>Weiner and Schnitzel raced each other to chase the stick Anna had hurled across the field, barking at each other as Kat laughed. The barbarian grinned up at the bard. “Hey, Kat?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes-?”</p><p> </p><p>“ON GUARD!” Anna barked shoving a startled Kat to the ground and running after the hounds.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, so we’re playing tag this time?” Kat yelled, springing to her feet. “You’re on!”</p><p> </p><p>She sped after the red-clad barbarian, before giving a quick whistle and laughing as Schnitzel ran straight into Anna’s legs, sending her tumbling to the ground.</p><p> </p><p>“HA!” Kat hollered, pumping her fist in victory. Before slowly lowering it as she realized that Anna wasn’t moving. “Anna?” she asked uncertainly.</p><p> </p><p>The barbarian didn’t move.</p><p> </p><p>“ANNA!” She screamed, sprinting over to where Anna lay still. “Are you-”</p><p> </p><p>Anna twisted up and grabbed Kat, pulling her down and flipping her, pinning the bard beneath her. “Gotcha!”</p><p> </p><p>“I thought you were hurt!” Kat yelled before noticing the position they were in. “Um.”</p><p> </p><p>Anna seemed to realize it at the same moment. “<em>Scheisse</em>, sorry!” she exclaimed, trying to rise off of her. She was stopped by two hands curled in her leather armor.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t move,” Kat said softly, and the way Kat was looking at her, Anna didn’t think she could have moved if she wanted to.</p><p> </p><p>Kat slowly pressed her lips first to one cheek, then to the other.</p><p> </p><p>“If you want to move now, you can.”</p><p> </p><p>Anna thought she would be happy to never move again.</p><p> </p><p>Kat pressed her lips to Anna’s, pulling her down, and she amended that idea.</p><p> </p><p>Anna would move anywhere, in any way, as long as she was with Katherine Howard.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Aragon watched the sunset, sending a silent prayer to Pelor.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Help me save my daughter. Please.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Praying?” Jane’s soft voice asked.</p><p> </p><p>Catherine turned back to her. “Just finished,” she responded holding her arms out for Jane to step into.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s going to be okay,” Jane murmured. Catherine closed her eyes, wondering how Jane always knew what she was thinking.</p><p> </p><p>“But what if she’s not?” she whispered. “What if she’s too far gone?”</p><p> </p><p>Jane pulled back to look up at the paladin. “Do you remember the night you used that awful pickup line on me?”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine blinked. “I doubt I’ll ever forget it.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane grinned. “Yes,<em> that</em> bit I know you’ll remember as long as you live, but I mean what we talked about before that? About how casters gain their power.”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine nodded, and Jane continued. “You said Mary was a cleric of the Dawnfather, correct?” Catherine nodded again. Jane settled her hands on Catherine's chest, adjusting the collar of her shirt, before smoothing a hand up over her cheek. “So tell me, great paladin of mine, what are the tenets you swore to uphold in the name of Pelor, the Dawnfather?”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine closed her eyes, the familiar words settling on her lips like a favorite blanket comforting a child.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Be ever vigilant for evil. People are quick to forget the lessons of the past.</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Help relieve the suffering of the innocent wherever it exists.</em>
</p><p> </p><p><em>Deliver the light of the Dawnfather where darkness dwells, with kindness, compassion, and mercy.</em>”</p><p> </p><p>“Catherine, Mary still has her power. The Dawnfather hasn’t given up hope that she can follow those ideals, so how could you?”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine opened her eyes, staring down at Jane in awe, seeing the complete trust and faith shining back in Jane’s. “What did I do to deserve you?” she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Jane laughed. “I don’t know. Pelor must have very been upset with you.”</p><p> </p><p>Catherine just joined in her laughter and kissed her, pulling her close as the sun set and darkness fell.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>Anne watched as Cleves curled a protective arm around Kat’s sleeping form. Cleves looked back at her with a raised eyebrow, as if to say, <em>I got my girl.  What about you?</em></p><p> </p><p>Anne smiled back sadly, and Cleves rolled her eyes, before settling down to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy had been acting strangely around her since finding out about Lizzie. And it didn’t seem to be Lizzie herself. The two got along incredibly well, both smarter and wiser than Anne could ever hope to be.</p><p> </p><p>Which meant it had to be Anne. Anne knew there was a stigma around single mothers, but, even with the many things she had worried about in entertaining the thought of introducing the Six to Lizzie, <em>this</em> wasn’t one of the repercussions she had considered.</p><p> </p><p>But now…</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>A familiar presence sat down next to her on the log Cleves had dragged over next to the fire. “Are you alright?” Cathy asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Yep.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy frowned. “Are <em>we</em> alright?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne sighed, “I don’t know, Cathy, you tell me.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy watched as the past week’s exhaustion seemed to settle in the rogue’s body, shoulders slumping, head bowed in a way she hadn’t seen since-</p><p> </p><p>Since Cathy had dismissed her in Rexxentrum.</p><p> </p><p>“Anne? Will you please look at me?” Anne did, and her eyes had that terrible, familiar, exhausted dullness.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy refused to be the cause of that.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to do something very stupid,” Cathy said quietly. “And if you want me to stop, I will.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne’s brow furrowed. “Wha-”</p><p> </p><p>And Cathy kissed her.</p><p> </p><p>Anne hadn't thought there was anything that could drive away the thoughts of her daughter for even a moment.</p><p> </p><p>But the moment Cathy Parr's lips met hers, every thought she had ever had disappeared, the whole world faded away, and all she could do was raise a hand and bury it in the wizard’s curls, the other sliding up her back, pulling her even closer.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, they had to break apart for air, hands still buried in each other's hair, gripping each other as though daring the world to try to separate them.</p><p> </p><p>Anne leaned her forehead against Cathy's and grinned. “It’s about <em>fucking</em> time,” she whispered breathlessly.</p><p> </p><p>“You knew?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne nodded. “The night at the tavern.” Cathy frowned, not understanding. “When you got drunk and I carried you to bed.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy froze. “What did I say?” she asked uncertainly.</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing spectacular,” Anne said. “You just seemed rather upset that I might be off sleeping with someone else. And then proceeded to rub Thomas in my face for the next few days.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy winced. “Yes, I did do that, didn’t I?” Anne shrugged. “No, Anne, that was really shitty of me and I’m sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne nodded. “I know.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy thought back and her eyes shot back to Anne’s. “He said he was coming back from the Cobalt library.” Anne nodded, waiting for her to put the pieces together. “Where Lizzie lives.” Anne nodded again.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy’s eyes darkened. “Anne, I hope you made him suffer.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne stared at her. She had <em>not </em>been expecting that. “Did you know you’re really hot when you’re angry?” she blurted out.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy was startled out of her anger. “Excuse me?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne shrugged sheepishly. “I mean, I’ve wanted to say it for a while, but now seemed like the time to mention it since you looked like you were about to try to bring him back to life to kill him yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy gaped for a moment then laughed, pulling back to tuck herself into her familiar place under Anne’s arm. “How long?”</p><p> </p><p>“How long what?”</p><p> </p><p>“How long have you known…” Cathy trailed off.</p><p> </p><p>“That I was in love with you?” Cathy looked up to see green eyes, those same green eyes she had been so mesmerized by the first time they met, gazing down at her like she was the most important person in the world.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think there was a moment,” Anne said softly. “I was in it before I ever realized, and by the time I had the words to put to my feelings-” she looked away. “I understood that you needed to figure it out on your own, and I knew that I had to protect Lizzie. So I let you believe I was sleeping around, but I couldn’t push you away completely. Even I don’t hate myself that much.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know I’ll protect her too, right?” Cathy asked. Anne was quiet. “Anne?”</p><p> </p><p>“I know." Anne pulled Cathy's hand into her own and fiddled with her fingers, unable to meet the wizard's eyes. "And I have to ask you this now before we face Mary.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy twisted so she could comfortably look at Anne. “What is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“I know the plan is to keep Lizzie away. But my daughter has the strangest penchant for getting into trouble.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy snorted. “I wonder where she gets <em>that</em> from.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne didn’t smile. “If she gets involved, and things go south, I need you to promise me you’ll teleport her to safety.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy stiffened. “Anne-”</p><p> </p><p>“I know, it’s a big ask. But I can’t go into this without knowing that Lizzie will be safe.” Anne finally looked down at Cathy, eyes pleading.</p><p> </p><p>They stared at each other, and their stare was no longer daring and challenging, but searching and asking. Cathy seemed to find her answer and leaned forward to kissed Anne again, gentle and reassuring.</p><p> </p><p>“I promise. But <em>when</em> we win?” She twisted her hand in Anne's, intertwining their fingers. “We are going to figure out where this goes. Together.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne leaned her head forward so their foreheads were touching again. “Deal," she murmured. "But for now,” she said tucking Cathy under her arm. “Lizzie first.”</p><p> </p><p>“Bold of you to assume I can’t save you both,” Cathy mumbled, already half asleep.</p><p> </p><p>“You can’t always save everyone, <em>ma chere</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>“Just watch me try.”</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p> </p><p>The five sleeping figures sleeping were roused by a frantic Anne. Parr was already preparing the circle to take them away.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon rubbed her eyes. “I thought we had agreed that Cathy would save her energy-”</p><p> </p><p>“She knows.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon froze. “What?”</p><p> </p><p>“Mary knows. She’s kidnapped Mouat and Manser. I just got a Message. We have to go, <em>now</em>.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was one of my favorite chapters to write. The resolution of the tension between Jane and Anne, fluff for all three pairs (WITH CONSENT), and delving into the complicated philosophies that come with any sort of faith, in gods or otherwise? The cliff hanger that doesn't matter because I got impatient and just uploaded all the chapters in one go after chapter 9?</p><p>All the things I love about writing fanfiction, all in one chapter.</p><p>Also, the tenets of Pelor, the Dawnfather, are NOT mine, they are Matthew Mercer's (the creator of Exandria).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. The Final Battle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was too easy to reach the throne room and they all knew it. There wasn't a guard in sight. Aragon easily led them to the throne room where Anne said Mary would be waiting.</p><p> </p><p>She stood, curly red hair pulled back, most of her skin, darker than her father’s and lighter than her mother’s, covered in yellow cloth and polished armor. She had a longsword in hand, and stood behind the gagged and bound Manser and Mouat. She had a single guard by her side, curly hair peeking out from beneath her helmet, wearing dark leather armor, watching the prisoners closely, glancing briefly at the party as they entered.</p><p> </p><p>Mary Boleyn sat by the throne, examining her nails, uninterested in the party’s approach. A body lay at her feet, smoke rising from the human remains. Cathy saw the twisted features of Trent Ikathon, barely recognizable behind the charred flesh.</p><p> </p><p>Queen Mary smirked at Cathy’s shock. “You’re not the only one who hated Trent,” she said, igniting her hand with radiant fire, letting the flames dance around her fingers. “He got too confident. And he was not my only teacher. So I took care of him.” She extinguished the fire with a flick of her wrist. "He never saw it coming.</p><p> </p><p>The young queen turned her attention to the rest of the Six standing before her. “You couldn’t beat me before,” she said. She ran a finger down Mouat’s face, who glared at her and strained away. “And now I have <em>captives</em>.” She raised her sword to the elvish sorceress’ throat. “So, what do you think you’ll do this time, <em>mother</em>?” she asked, eyebrow raised at the paladin.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon stepped up to her daughter. “Mary, <em>please</em>,” she begged. “Pelor hasn’t given up on you-”</p><p> </p><p>Mary barked a laugh. “And why should he? I’m doing his work. No thanks to you,” she snarled.</p><p> </p><p>Stapleton shifted uncomfortably behind the Queen. Her eyes met Anne's, and the rogue could see her eyes begging her for answers. <em>This is why we Messaged you,</em> her eyes seemed to plead, <em>Do something</em>!</p><p> </p><p>Before Anne could interfere, Mary raised her sword. “Maybe now you’ll understand,” she snarled, bringing the sword down.</p><p> </p><p>It met steel as Stapleton leaped forward to deflect the blow in one quick movement, before twisting to slice through Manser’s bindings, then Mouat’s as well. “I can’t watch you do this to yourself, Mary,” she said, her eyes filling with tears, but determined, as she threw down her sword. It fell to the stone floor with a clatter and the guard stood tall before her queen. “But I will not fight you.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary froze, staring at her oldest, her <em>only</em> friend, then roared, slicing her longsword across Stapleton’s front, through the armor, where the loyal guard collapsed to the ground. “Just another betrayal,” she spat, tears pricking at her eyes, but kept firmly out of sight where they belonged, the control she had mastered after years of practice coming to good use again. “Boleyn, NOW!”</p><p> </p><p>And with that, the fight was on.</p><p> </p><p>Mary Boleyn summoned the undead skeletons of the kings’ from the past to claw their way to the surface, bearing the weapons they had been buried with. The bones rattled in a macabre dance as they clawed their way through the storm, swords jammed through empty ribs or clasped in teeth, before being wielded with all the skill the person whose skeleton it once belonged to had developed in their time on the mortal plane. </p><p> </p><p>Cleves roared, feeling her rage, her need to protect her family, course through her as she bounded towards a large skeleton swinging a hammer at Kat, who ducked under the blow, drawing her Kazoo to play a haunting melody, causing the skeletons within range to begin dancing in time to it, bones clattering in time to the music of the violin Kat had created.</p><p> </p><p>Cathy began to cast a spell but was sent flying by the Queen before she could cast it, slamming her painfully in the wall, where it then crackled and twisted to wrap around her arms, holding her firmly in place. She screamed as she struggled against the Stoneshape, to no avail.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon ran forward, bringing her sword up to meet her daughter’s and they were immediately engaged in a fierce duel, metal clashing loudly in the large chamber.</p><p> </p><p>Jane sent blasts of blue lightning streaking through the skeletons, trying to keep them away from the dueling followers of the Dawnfather.</p><p> </p><p>Cleves was the first to fall as Mary Boleyn shot a spell at her that sent her tumbling to the ground in a heap. As Kat rushed to try to heal the barbarian, Anne snuck up behind her sister, stabbing her in the back, out the stomach, exactly as she had their brother. Mary reached back and grabbed her sister’s face with a clawing hand, pouring the last of her energy into the same spell she had used on Cleves, and they both collapsed to the floor.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon’s blade crashed against her daughter’s. “Stop this, <em>please</em>, Mary,” she cried. Her eyes flickered over to where Jane was trying to rouse Anne, the skeletons having fallen in piles of lifeless bones with the death of Mary Boleyn.</p><p> </p><p>The Queen’s eyes followed her mother’s gaze and she saw red. “Is <em>she</em> the new distraction, Mother?” she asked coldly. Aragon’s eyes shot back to hers. “Fine.”</p><p> </p><p>She said an arcane word, flicking her wrist, and Jane collapsed to the ground without a sound. Aragon didn’t have time to scream before she felt the hilt of a sword slam into her temple. She fought to stay conscious, unable to fight as her daughter dragged her over to Jane’s fallen form. “<em>Please</em>,” she managed.</p><p> </p><p>“So much begging,” Mary smirked. “It is beneath you, Mother,” She raised her sword to strike Jane in the chest as Aragon watched, helpless to save either woman she loved.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi!”</p><p> </p><p>Mary whirled around to see…a child?</p><p> </p><p>A small girl with red hair walked into the throne room, eyes wide, not with fear or horror, but with innocent curiosity.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m Lizzie.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As much as I'm kind of alluding to the music being Camille Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre, I'm actually imagining Kat playing Paganini's La Campanella to cast Irresistible Dance on the skeletons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jERzLseoAOM</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Sisters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two sisters stared at each other, brown eyes meeting green, for a few still, silent moments, as Mary slowly lowered the sword.</p><p> </p><p>“Lizzie, RUN-” Mary slammed the hilt down on her mother’s temple again to shut her up, noting that the monk girl did not so much as wince.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re sad.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary flinched at the girl’s assessment and raised the sword carefully to rest against the girl's neck. “What?” she said in a low voice as if daring the child to continue.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re sad,” Lizzie repeated, completely unbothered by the blade. “Because your mother left you.”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” she responded, forcing her expression into its usual cold glare. “I hate her. I am not sad.”</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie shrugged. “Yes, you are.” Mary’s brow furrowed as Lizzie continued. “I understand. My Mama left me too. But I know it’s because she has to. To keep me safe. She doesn’t really want to.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary bent down to meet Lizzie’s eyes, keeping the sword ready, but not longer against the girl’s neck. “My mother,” she hissed, “Left because she didn’t want me. Because she thinks I’m a <em>monster</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon’s eyes filled with tears as she heard her daughter speak her truth, heard in Mary's own words, the truth that the former queen had only seen glimpses of in years of nightmares.</p><p> </p><p>Lizzie just looked at Mary with only compassion in her young, yet impossibly knowing eyes. “If my Mama thought I was a monster, I’d be sad too.” Mary froze, staring at this strange child. “But it’s okay,” she said quietly, reaching a hand up to Mary’s face. “You’re not a monster. Eddie told me.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary didn’t flinch away, to her own surprise. “Who?”</p><p> </p><p>“Our brother. Well, he said it was complicated, and that I’m too young to totally get it. But yeah. He’s my godmother, Jane’s, son.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary sneered, but didn’t move Lizzie’s hand. “And how would he know?”</p><p> </p><p>“He was there for the pigeon.” Mary stiffened.</p><p> </p><p>“He saw every time you hid in your room as your parents screamed and fought and forgot about you until you were useful to them. He watched you learn to hide your tears. He watched as the world kept teaching you how awful it was, how our father showed you the terrible things mortals do in the name of science and advancement, and then wiping your memory each time you told him it was wrong, only to show you again and again.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary was now staring at the girl, this compassionate girl, with wisdom beyond her years, laying out her every secret for the world to hear, unable, <em>unwilling</em> to stop her. It felt like a weight lifted from her, to hear this child saying what she had done <em>and </em>what had been done to her, in so straightforward a way, said in a way that left no room for argument.</p><p> </p><p>“He watched as you turned to Pelor for any semblance of light, and he left feathers in pages of scriptures he knew would help you when you needed them most. He left you books to learn spells that Ikathon wouldn't know you knew.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary exhaled loudly. “So that’s where they came from,” she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“He watched as Trent Ikathon manipulated you into letting him continue to do his experiments, turning your faith in Pelor and your need to be the perfect queen for the Empire, into shackles that held you in darkness.”</p><p> </p><p>“And then he told me your story. And brought me here. To help you back to the light.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary fell to her knees before the girl. “You are <em>not</em> a monster, Mary,” Lizzie said.</p><p> </p><p>Mary tried to shake her head. “Yes, I-”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re not,” Lizzie said firmly, cupping her sister’s head in both of her small hands. “Bad things happened. You did bad things to try to fix them. But you didn’t know what else to do. You did your best.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary let tears fall for the first time in years. “It’s okay to ask for help,” Lizzie said softly.</p><p> </p><p>Mary’s eyes widened “I-” she cut herself off and jerked Lizzie into a desperate hug which Lizzie instantly returned.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re going to help you, Mary. I promise, sister.”</p><p> </p><p>Mary was sobbing now. Aragon flushed the curse from Jane’s body, and Jane, sitting up, immediately reached over to heal Anne, who got to her feet, wincing.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon glanced at Anne, then to Cathy and Lizzie, Anne understood. She gave the paladin a nod and went to get Cathy down, trusting Aragon to take care of their children.</p><p> </p><p>Aragon carefully knelt beside her daughter. “Mary,” she whispers. “I am so sorry. I never meant for you to think I thought you were a monster. I don’t and I <em>never</em> did. I wish,” she shook her head frustrated. “I wish I could just…do this all over.”</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe you can,” Parr said softly, leaning heavily on Anne as they limped over.</p><p> </p><p>Mary looked up, defeated, her sister keeping one hand around her shoulders. “How?”</p><p> </p><p>Parr met Jane’s eyes. “Edward has been helping me with my magic since I was very little. Including the time we’ve spent traveling together.”</p><p> </p><p>Jane frowned as she helped Cleves up with Kat’s help. “What do you mean?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m a Dunamancy wizard, one of the few in the Empire. I work with time. Edward has been helping me with this spell…well, since I can remember really. I thought he was helping me to be able to reverse the atrocities committed at the Solstryce Academy. But now…” She looked around at her strange, chosen family. “What if it’s this? What if we’re meant to start time back to when Catherine had Mary?”</p><p> </p><p>Anne frowned. “That’s mad. If we did that…Cathy, there’s no guarantee that anyone here but Aragon and Mary would even be <em>born</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Cathy smiled sadly. “I know. But think of all the pain we would prevent.”</p><p> </p><p>Anne stayed quiet and looked away.</p><p> </p><p>“I say do it,” Jane says quietly. She met Aragon’s surprised eyes. “You were meant to be a mother, Catherine,” Jane says softly. “I have done nothing but play the toy to the men in my life and give up my son.”</p><p> </p><p>Kat looks around at the death and destruction. “I mean…I like being alive, and there’s a good chance I’ll still be born so like. I guess-”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves whacked Kat’s arm. “<em>No</em>. No! We talked about this.” Cleves glared at Parr. “We’re STAYING.”</p><p> </p><p>She then glared at Kat, and Kat glared right back. Cleves finally softened and leaned against Kat’s leg. “Do whatever, I guess,” she mumbled. Kat reached down and took the barbarian's calloused hand in her own.</p><p> </p><p>Anne was staring at Lizzie. Mary looked to Anne and then at Lizzie.</p><p> </p><p>“No.”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone stared at Mary. “No, I have to pay for what I’ve done. And… <em>Mami</em>,” Aragon’s head shot up at the old term of endearment Mary once used to refer to her. “You’re not the only mother here.”</p><p> </p><p>Aragon and Anne glanced at each other and smiled. Mary put her hand over Lizzie’s where it sat, a comforting weight on her shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“And I have a sister I’d really like to get to know.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Last Main Story chapter! All that's left is the epilogue!</p><p>Also, Dunamancy is a Critical Role/Matthew Mercer specific type of magic, defined as follows: "The study of the primal magical energy of potentiality and actuality, an anticipatory arcane force that helps shape the multiverse and might very well be what holds its elements together, like an infinite web of unseen tethers."</p><p>In normal human terms, basically the study of physics and/or time and space.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“…and <em>done!</em>” Cathy Parr put down her quill and leaned back, her old bones creaking at even the small movement.</p><p> </p><p>“Have you got everyone?” Cleves asked, seated on the floor next to the old wizard’s desk.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” she said, before reading the list, “Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Catherine Parr, Manser, Mouat, Stapleton, Alicia, Mary Dwendal, Elizabeth Boleyn, Edward Seymour, Mae…am I forgetting anyone?”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves frowned. “I think Anne might want to get to spend time with her brother without him being you know…green and giant.”</p><p> </p><p>Parr blinked then smiled. “You’re absolutely right,” and added George Boleyn to the list.</p><p> </p><p>“But yeah, no more men,” Cleves said, wrinkling her nose.</p><p> </p><p>Parr laughed. “Oh absolutely not. Eddie and George get a pass. There will be plenty of Henrys and Mr. Seymours in the next life.”</p><p> </p><p>“Gods…a new life. It doesn’t even feel real.” Parr placed the pen in the inkwell and sighed. “I just want to see them again.”</p><p> </p><p>Cleves laid a gentle hand on Parr’s, the matching black chokers tied around their wrists. “I miss them too.” she said softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Soon, old friend,” Parr said, tired. Then she grinned. “Though I still think I’m going to outlast you.”</p><p> </p><p>“HA!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you don’t see ME running around fighting krakens in my eighties, do you?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, because you’re no fun.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmph. But I <em>do</em> happen to be the reason you get to see Kat again so-”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m still gonna win the bet.”</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll see.”</p><p> </p><p>They had lived long, happy lives, with all those they loved, and Elizabeth was leading the Empire into the next century, Mary at her side.</p><p> </p><p>Catherine Parr looked forward to seeing The Six and their friends in every reality in the multiverse.</p><p> </p><p>Now, she had all the time in the world.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is it folks! </p><p>Maybe at some point I'll throw in some one-shots about the queens lives between the last chapter and the epilogue. If you have any prompts you'd like to throw at me, you can find me on the following platforms:</p><p>Twitter: https://twitter.com/yashregard</p><p>Instagram (where you can also find fan art and playlists): https://www.instagram.com/crit.icalsix/</p><p>Tumblr: https://willywonkaoconnell.tumblr.com/</p><p>For those who've made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!</p><p>-Grey</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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